Stinkin' Wormholes
by The Petulant Purple Princess
Summary: Strange portals are popping up in the real world and the world of Dragonball Z, and they're leading straight to...Yu Yu Hakusho? PPP and her four best friends somehow get caught up in it all, and who is that in Maze Castle? YYHDBZ crossover
1. All the crazy stuff happens at MY house!

**I cannot believe I'm actually writing one of these. But, whatever, it was a random idea meant to piss my friends off. This might actually be one of my more serious fics, making it only the second in existence.**

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School was finally over, and to celebrate, Stephanie was holding a slumber party at her house for all of her friends.

She hummed to herself as she carefully stowed away the life-size cutout of Mirai Trunks in her closet. For some reason it always seemed to creep her friends out. Stephanie couldn't imagine why that hot piece of Saiyan ass would unnerve them…

Stephanie propped her beloved to the side and left, hardly noticing the small white glow coming from the back of her closet in her excitement.

0000000000

Stephanie, Kimberly, Datha, Mandi, and Brianna had all managed to cram themselves into Stephanie's tiny room and were engaging in typical slumber party activities.

"Hey, let's play Truth or Dare!" Datha squealed excitedly.

"Datha, that's kind of childish, don't you think?" Kimberly asked.

"Hey, it's better than when she had us all playing Hide n Seek at Kimberly's party last year," Mandi commented. "I'm all for it!"

The girls sat in a circle in the middle of the floor. "Since it was my idea, I'll go first," Datha said. "Um, Stephanie, Truth or Dare?"

Stephanie pretended to think about it. "Truth."

"Coward," Brianna muttered.

"Quiet you."

"Anyway, who do you like besides that one guy from that one cartoon?" Datha giggled.

"For starters, Dragonball Z isn't just a cartoon, it's an Anime," Stephanie indignantly corrected.

Brianna nodded. "Anime is superior to all other cartoons," she agreed.

Stephanie looked at Brianna in surprise. "I didn't know you like Anime!"

"I'm not as vocal about it as you are," she shrugged.

Datha crossed her arms angrily. "You're avoiding the question Stephanie."

"Oh, sorry. Um, what was it again?"

Everyone rolled her eyes. "It was who do you like besides the fictional character from Dragonball Z," Kimberly answered for Datha, emphasizing the 'fictional' part.

Stephanie blushed. "Promise you guys won't freak out?" They all nodded. "Esteban."

Everyone stared at Stephanie in silence. It was Mandi who spoke first. "That conceited ass?"

Stephanie nodded miserably. "I should've picked Dare," she mumbled in embarrassment.

Brianna quickly jumped to Stephanie's defense. "Like you have any right to talk Mandi!" she shouted accusingly. "What about Kris?"

Mandi blushed and muttered, "All I'm saying is that Stephanie doesn't seem like the type of person who'd fall for a jerk-wad like Esteban."

"Brianna, Truth or Dare," Stephanie blurted.

"Wha?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "We were playing Truth or Dare, were we not? So that would make it my turn, and I pick Brianna!" she explained exasperatedly. "So Brianna, Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Brianna confidently responded.

Stephanie sat cross-legged with her finger on her chin. "Umm… Go into my closet and get my vampire costume that I wore for Halloween last year. Put it on, and scare the crap out of Sasquatch with it!"

"Isn't a dare supposed to be embarrassing?" Kimberly asked as Brianna rummaged through Stephanie's closet. She shrieked in terror when she came across Stephanie's cutout of Trunks.

"It will be, if Sasquatch is sleeping nude again," Stephanie answered brightly. "Then, not only will she be extremely embarrassed, she'll be mentally scarred for life!"

Brianna's groan was muffled by all of Stephanie's junk. "Now that's encouraging!"

The next few minutes were filled with a contented silence as Brianna searched for the elusive Halloween costume. Finally, Mandi stood up, shouting good-naturedly, "Come on Brianna, it doesn't take that long to find a black dress, cape, and boots!" She peered into the abyss that was Stephanie's closet and gasped. "She's not there!"

The three girls remaining seated clustered around Stephanie's closet in awe, just now noticing a faint white glow coming from the back. Mandi cautiously ventured into the dark recesses of the walk-in closet, followed closely by Stephanie, Kimberly, and Datha. After shoving several unknown items out of the way, they reached the source of the luminescence.

A round pool of what looked like liquid light shimmered in front of them. "Cool," Stephanie commented, but the rest shushed her. Mandi knelt down to touch the odd, silvery stuff. She quickly recoiled as if she'd been burned.

The other three girls instantly panicked. "Oh my God, Mandi, are you OK?" they squealed in terror.

Mandi nodded slowly. "I'm fine, but whatever it is, it's really cold," she assured. "Here, feel for yourself." She moved aside so her friends could feel the strange substance for themselves. The other three knelt down and tentatively stuck a finger in.

Stephanie shivered. "You're right, it's freezing! I wonder how deep it is…" She plunged her hand deeper in, and started when she felt the stuff pull her in. "Guys, it's pulling me in!" she yelled frantically, but to no avail. The others were pulling at their submerged hands, struggling at whatever force pulling them down.

A tsunami of the stuff erupted from the middle of the pool, engulfing them in light. When the light faded, the four girls were nowhere to be found. Only the innocently shimmering pool remained, it too eventually fading out.

* * *

**Hope the first chapter wasn't too crappy. Constructive criticism is welcomed, flames will be openly mocked.**


	2. We're in a friggin anime, man!

**Two chapters in one day. Not bad, considering how bad I am at updating stuff. Yeah, I wouldn't expect a new chapter anytime soon. I have way too much stuff to be working on as it is...**

* * *

All Stephanie could see was light. A blinding white light. She squinted her eyes, and a shadow fell across her face. She blinked several times, and everything came into focus. What she saw caused her heart to skip several beats.

"This can't be real," Stephanie whispered. "I'm dreaming…" And with that she slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Damn," Hiei muttered. "She fainted."

"Whoa, Hiei!" Yusuke snickered. "Did I hear you right? You actually care that she fainted?"

Hiei rolled his eyes at Yusuke. "Hn. Don't read into it. I merely want to know why they're here. You'd want answers too if five teenage humans fell out of nowhere on top of you when you're trying to sleep."

Hiei's teammates, much to his chagrin, burst out laughing at the comment. "You must admit Hiei, the sight was quite amusing," Kurama chuckled.

Hiei shot his friend a death glare and nudged the shortest girl with his foot. Datha rolled over and blinked up at Hiei. It took the small girl a moment to realize that she was _not _where she was supposed to be and surrounded by four very unnatural looking males that she had never seen before, but the significance of this little fact was not lost on her. Being the only logical action in a situation such as hers, Datha screamed and backed up against a wall as far away from Hiei as she could.

Stephanie, Brianna, and Kimberly all jolted into an upright position at their friend's shout, Stephanie mumbling something along the lines of "But it wasn't my fault! The Teletubbies _framed _me!" Mandi just grunted and rolled over in her sleep.

Kimberly immediately jumped to her best friend's aid. "What do you want with us?" she growled, glaring at Hiei.

Hiei smirked at the girl's behavior. "I believe I'm the one who should be asking questions," he said, "considering I'm the one you girls fell on top of."

Kimberly gulped and took an involuntary step backward, then noticed that Brianna and Stephanie paid no attention to her predicament. "Hello you two! This guy is trying to take advantage of Datha!" Kimberly shouted.

Hiei twitched slightly as his teammates had another good laugh at his expense. "Fine!" he snapped. "If you little wenches are that ungrateful, you can leave!"

"Now Hiei, try to be reasonable," Kurama soothed, trying to hide his smile. "These girls are clearly in an unfamiliar environment, so it's only natural that they would make assumptions like that."

Kimberly calmed down, somewhat, and settled herself beside Datha. "So where are we, and who are you people?" she asked, giving Yusuke and Kuwabara (who were shaking with silent laughter at the accusation thrown at Hiei) an odd look.

"We're in an anime," Brianna casually answered before anyone could open his mouth. "But I don't know which one. You'll have to ask Crazy over there." Three heads turned in Stephanie's direction, but she just sat and stared with a blank expression at Kurama.

Kurama shifted uneasily under Stephanie's gaze and turned to Brianna. "You say we're part of an anime. You five aren't originally from this dimension, are you?" Kurama waited for a reply, but Stephanie had risen from her spot on the floor and was standing in front of him, still looking at him with that blank stare. "Can I help you?" he asked nervously. Stephanie didn't answer, but instead raised her index finger and poked him in the forehead. "Ow." Stephanie made a move to poke him again, but he caught her wrist in mid-poke. "Please refrain from doing that," Kurama said, his green eyes flashing in annoyance.

Stephanie was temporarily paralyzed. Kurama had spoken to her. _The _Kurama had directly addressed _her_! That could only mean one thing…

"He's real!" she squealed with delight. "He's really real!" She plopped herself in Kurama's lap and grinned up at him. "Hi! I'm Stephanie!"

"Yep, Stephanie knows which anime we're in," Brianna muttered. "Oh Great Psychotic One, where the hell are we?"

"Yu Yu Hakusho," the Great Psychotic One replied while playing with Kurama's hair. "Genkai's temple by the looks of it."

"Wonderful," Yusuke commented, giving Stephanie an odd look. "You know who we are. So who exactly are _you_?"

"Stephanie."

"Datha."

"Kimberly."

"Brianna. The one still asleep," and at this point Brianna pointed at Mandi, "is Mandi. Hey, I wonder why she hasn't woke up yet?"

Kuwabara shrugged and reached over to gently shake Mandi's shoulder. "I don't know."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kimberly warned. It was too late. A loud smack resounded throughout the room and Kuwabara fell flat on his butt with a red mark on his cheek, as Mandi settled back under the covers. "I told you so," Kimberly smirked while the other three laughed their heads off, Stephanie laughing so hard she fell off of Kurama. Kurama sighed with relief; that was extremely awkward, and plus his legs were falling asleep.

"See there's only one way to wake Mandi up." Stephanie was still grinning as she fished through her pockets. "My Chemical Romance is the most effective way to rouse a sleeping Mandi without getting slapped." She found what she was looking for and held the iPod high in triumph. "Behold," she said dramatically. She then unwound the headphones and knelt down beside Mandi, carefully inserting the little bud into her ear and pushed play.

Mandi's eyes flew open when she recognized the opening notes of _Welcome to the Black Parade_. She squealed and clapped her hands together like a child, chanting, "Oh my God, My Chemical Romance!"

Stephanie grinned smugly. "And that, children, is the proper way to wake Mandi up!"

The four boys stared at the odd spectacle. Mandi was "dancing" (by dancing I mean jumping up and down bobbing her head) all around the room, while Stephanie chased her trying to get her iPod back. The rest of the girls sweat-dropped at their friends' antics.

"Right…" Yusuke said, his eyes following the two most active girls. "So… Did somebody think to call the toddler?"

"There is no need for name-calling Yusuke," said a familiar squeaky voice from the doorway behind him. "And yes, Botan came and got me as soon as the newcomers had arrived here safely." On cue, Botan, Yukina, and Keiko appeared behind him, all three carrying several packages.

Mandi was so caught up in her music that she failed to notice Koenma's arrival (or anything else for that matter) until she crashed into him. Surprised and not expecting the sudden obstacle, Mandi fell backward and landed on her butt with a thump, the iPod flying out of her hand. Stephanie triumphantly caught it and pocketed the device, though not before turning it off and winding the headphones around it.

"Whoa, why does it look like we're in a cartoon?" Mandi asked, finally taking in her surroundings. "And _why_," she asked again, pointing at Koenma "is a seventeen year old sucking on a friggin' pacifier?!?"

Mandi sat quietly while everything was explained. "Okay…" she started. "How did we pop up in a random anime or whatever-you-call-it and land on top of a really short dude with gravity-defiant hair and red eyes?" she asked quite bluntly.

"Mandi!" Kimberly and Datha shouted in unison.

"Well, Hiei is short," Stephanie chimed in Mandi's defense. "And to answer your question, it was probably that weird Stargate thing we found in my closet."

"I have just one question," Yusuke put in.

"Shoot."

"How the hell did you manage to fit a Stargate in your closet?!?"


	3. DBZ, meet YYH!

**This is my second update in three days. I'm pretty proud of myself! This one is much longer than the other two chaps. SEVENTEEN PAGES!!!!! Bow to me.**

* * *

A breathless messenger kneeled before a dark, hooded figure. Nothing of the figure's face was visible.

"This had better be good news, boy," the figure boomed. He had an unnatural voice; it was more like he was speaking with his mind rather than his actual voice. With his face hidden, however, it was impossible to tell.

"Ah, there was a bit of a problem with the portals," the boy said quickly, in hopes that the figure would be unable to understand. "The engineers got the three worlds mixed up; they put the in-coming in Yu Yu Hakusho and the out-going in Dragonball Z and reality."

"This is indeed unfortunate." The figure's voice changed to a sinister hiss. So he _had _been speaking with his mind before. The figure stood and rolled up the sleeves of his long robe, revealing pale hands. The slender fingers curled into a powerful gesture, and the boy's hands flew to his throat.

"Master, wait!" the boy cried out as an invisible force coiled around his neck, squeezing tightly. He helplessly clawed at the binding force, but to no avail. "Our informants in the Yu Yu Hakusho realm have found something!"

The dark clad creature, because no human could possess that kind of power, loosened his hold on the boy, but the energy remained twined about his neck. Seeing it as an invitation to go on, the boy continued, "They say they found seven orange spheres with little red stars in the middle. The don't seem to be from that particular show, and they're releasing some kind of ki."

Under its mask of shadows, the creature grinned evilly and released the boy, who collapsed to the ground, gulping in air. "The situation is not as dire as I had first assumed. Get off the floor, boy, and fetch me Dr. Gero."

The boy gave a terrified squeak and scurried away. The creature settled back into the shadows, a smirk on its unseen face. There were a few setbacks, yes, but with the discovery of the Dragonballs in the Yu Yu Hakusho dimension, his plan would soon be back on schedule.

0000000000

"We really need to go shopping."

Inside the package the YYH girls brought were changes of clothes for the interdimensional travelers, who wore nothing but their pajamas. Unfortunately they had misjudged Mandi's size and Datha's age group, and at least those two were uncomfortable.

"Ugh, this shirt is squishing my boobs!" Mandi shouted from inside the bathroom, making the males in the room blush.

Stephanie looked down at what the YYH girls had brought for her with distaste. Yellow is such an ugly color… "Oi, Mandi, you can wear my shirt! It should fit you perfectly!" she shouted through the door. "I'll just wear a jacket over my pajamas."

Stephanie rushed to an empty room to change and reemerged in her faded lavender tank top with bleach stains on the straps and her gray pajama bottoms. She comfortable moved toward the bathroom and handed off her discarded clothes, then passed Datha on her way to find a jacket that fit.

Datha was clad in a sequined hot pink T-shirt and a denim mini-skirt. The shirt she didn't mind so much; the skirt, however, was far too revealing for her tastes. Datha stared enviously at the brunette Stephanie had identified as Keiko. That brown skirt looked really comfortable, and it wasn't too revealing.

Stephanie found a jacket to her liking and plopped down next to Brianna. "Hello," she said happily.

"Hi."

"I'm bored."

Brianna turned to face her friend. "I see that. What do you want me to do about it?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Nothing I guess." The two sat in silence, watching Kimberly and Datha as they playfully pushed each other around Mandi emerged from the bathroom, looking a little ill to the stomach, but far more comfortable in Stephanie's bigger shirt.

Kuwabara jumped up when he saw Mandi stumble. "Here, let me help you…"

"Go away before I castrate you with a spoon."

Stephanie and Brianna fell over laughing at the comment. "Castrate him with a spoon, I gotta remember that!" Stephanie chortled. Kimberly and Datha looked shocked but amused at what Mandi had threatened to do, and Kuwabara was confused and hurt. Seeing the look on his face, Stephanie reassured, "Don't worry, she's just not feeling very well. She didn't mean it." For good measure, she awarded him with a bright smile.

Mandi rolled her eyes at the warm exchange. It was odd for Stephanie to be so nice to complete stranger. She usually held most people in contempt, like they were an insult to her very being. Maybe she was on PMS. Yeah, that's it. Stephanie could go from bouncing off the walls to sobbing hysterically in seconds when riding the crimson wave…

Finding no chair, and not about to sit on the floor, Mandi found a space on the windowsill between Hiei and Kurama.

"Go away, human," Hiei muttered. "I don't want your disease."

Mandi gave a humorless laugh. "Trust me dude, what I got ain't contagious."

Hiei looked the girl over, and comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh… That would explain it."

"Are we all ready to go?" Koenma asked just as Mandi was getting comfortable.

She crossed her arms over her oversized chest and sighed petulantly. "Where are we going and why are we going there?"

"Spirit World, of course," Koenma replied. "I want to have your backgrounds checked so that we're sure you five are not a threat."

"What, you don't trust us?" Stephanie asked innocently.

"Well, this sort of thing doesn't happen everyday, so no, I don't trust you."

"Well, you can be that way!"

"Idiot," Hiei muttered.

0000000000

All five of the girls were nervous about going to Spirit World. Stephanie, Mandi, and Brianna had all become withdrawn and quiet; Datha chattered about nothing in particular; and Kimberly lashed out at everyone for no real reason. The tension cut deep.

Koenma had explained before they left that their brains would have to be probed and their souls examined before they could begin to search for a way home. The girls really didn't understand _why, _but, as Yusuke put it, bureaucracy doesn't have to make sense, to which Stephanie full-heartedly agreed.

0000000000

Stephanie gnawed nervously on a piece of gum she had weaseled out of Kuwabara. The invasion of her mind had reinforced her inherent mistrust of authority, and the examination of her soul had been most uncomfortable. Kurama watched her warily. The girl had already made it clear how much she knew about him and his friends. He was not entirely sure she was trustworthy, despite her outward appearance of friendliness.

Koenma led Mandi (who looked as though she had been sexually harassed) back into his office. He beckoned the Spirit Detectives forward and led them back to the room he had just left. Kurama looked back at the girls for a fleeting second. Stephanie was still chewing away at her gum; her hands folded in her lap and her leg bouncing. Datha spun idly in Koenma's chair, while the rest watched without really paying attention. It seemed that the new dimension they suddenly found themselves in was wearing on their nerves.

Kurama shut the door behind him and paid close attention to what Koenma was saying.

"These four: Mandi, Datha, Kimberly, and Brianna do not seem to be a threat," he was saying. "They have no idea who we are or what our 'anime' is about, except that it probably has something to do with violence knowing Stephanie." Koenma paused and stared thoughtfully at the paper in his hand. "This Stephanie isn't much of a threat either but…" Koenma looked up and frowned at his employees. "She knows everything about us until a little after Yusuke defeated Sensui. After that it comes up blank."

"Well, she did say she was a fan," Yusuke reasoned.

"Yes, that would explain it… As for what we're going to do with them until they can go back…"

0000000000

"No."

All five of the newcomers were a little less than pleased about being babysat by the Reikai Tantei. Of course, Koenma never actually used the word 'baby-sit,' but it was interpreted as such.

"We are all juniors in high school, we can take care of ourselves," Brianna grumbled.

"If it's gonna take that long for you bozos to get us home, I demand that someone take us shopping!" Stephanie announced. "If I absolutely have to be here, not that I'm complaining, I'm gonna need a few changes of clothes, a hairbrush, some deodorant, probably a few CDs…" and Stephanie's list went on from there. Soon the others were adding demands of their own.

Kurama sighed. "They're right, " he said. "I suppose Botan could take you…"

Stephanie grinned. "What's wrong Kurama? Don't wanna spend anymore money than you have to?"

"To be honest, no."

"Cheap bastard." Stephanie bent down to take off her shoe and threw it at him, laughing when it bounced off the wall.

0000000000

Botan returned to Genkai's temple without any money what-so-ever. Broke as she was, however, she had fun with the girls; they were smart and funny. Stephanie's sarcastic comments and tough exterior reminded her of Hiei. She was mean, but everyone knew she didn't really mean it. Mandi was just plain funny. She could send a person in to hysteric giggles, and still be entirely serious. Brianna had an opinion on just about everything. She wasn't afraid to tell people what she thought and couldn't care less about the consequences.

It was very clear that Kimberly and Datha were close, almost as close as Hiei and Kurama. Kimberly understood Datha far better than the others did, and vice versa. Botan respected that deep of a friendship.

Kurama staggered in under the weight of Stephanie and Mandi's purchases. Stephanie had commandeered his services in retaliation for his refusal to spend money on her, and Mandi, not wanting to miss out on a chance to make a male miserable, proposed that they share the bag-carrier. Since Stephanie so enjoyed seeing Kurama's pain, she agreed.

"I just realized something," Stephanie commented.

"What?" Kurama panted. "Please don't tell me you've left something in the car."

"No, I didn't!" Stephanie cried indignantly. "There's a new episode of Ghosthunters on tonight. I'm watching it."

"Just don't go to bed right after," Brianna advised. "Remember what happened last time you did that?"

"Hey, there were really weird sounds coming from the attic! How was I supposed to know we had rats?!" She frowned at her friends, who had busted out laughing at the comment. "Oh, Kurama, you can put that stuff by the door."

Kurama shakily laid the bags down, rece3iving a reprimand from Mandi for not being gentle enough. Massaging his arms, he went over to stand by Hiei, who was sitting comfortable on the windowsill.

"Have fun, fox?" Hiei smirked.

"Shut up."

Hiei and Kurama watched in silence as the girls sorted through their things. Botan was helping until her briefcase started ringing. Excusing herself, she went outside to answer it.

The girls continued with their activities. After about thirty seconds, Stephanie huffed and shouted, "It is way too quiet in here!"

The other four jumped in surprise. Stephanie laughed sheepishly. "Eh heh, sorry 'bout that. But it really is quiet."

"Play some music," Mandi suggested. "You're the one with the iPod. Let's listen to My Chemical Romance!"

Kimberly, Datha, and Brianna groaned. Those two could be so obsessive about My Chemical Romance. And Mandi had said 'let's,' meaning that speakers were probably involved.

Sure enough, Stephanie had managed to find a set of speakers compatible for her iPod and was currently hooking it up.

Kurama and Hiei blinked when "Teenagers" blasted through the speakers. Apparently Stephanie and Mandi _really_ like this band, or at least this song. Yusuke and Kuwabara, having come back in from doing a few chores for Genkai, blinked at the two girls rocking out. Kuwabara opened his mouth to comment, but Kurama shook his head, silencing him. He shrugged and followed Yusuke to where Kurama and Hiei were sitting.

"What's with the music?" Yusuke asked.

"Stephanie decided it was too quiet," Kurama answered.

"Yeah, well, whoever this is has some serious issues."

"My Chemical Romance," Kuwabara said. "My sister listens to them all the time. It drives me crazy! I hate them."

"You hate My Chemical Romance?" Stephanie asked. "Hey Mandi, turn it up!"

"With pleasure."

Kuwabara groaned. "Why are you picking on me?"

"My brother's not here for us to bother," Stephanie offered as explanation. "Usually we pick on him, but seeing as he's not here, we'll pick on you, and maybe Yusuke."

Kuwabara groaned again, but silenced himself when Botan came back in. "Oh, good, you're all here," she said brightly. "Koenma has a new mission for you."

"WHAT!!!" Yusuke exploded. "How are we supposed to take care of these five if we have to go out and save the world every five minutes!"

"It's not a dangerous mission, Yusuke," Botan calmly responded, seemingly oblivious to his anger. "A weak youkai has managed to get his hands on seven new artifacts found in the Makai. If you want you can bring them—"

"Cool!" Stephanie joined the huddle and peered curiously at Botan's hi-tech briefcase. "What are y'all supposed to be looking for?"

Kurama gave Stephanie an odd look. "Y'all?" he asked.

"Texas thing."

"Right…"

"This is what was stolen," Botan said, interrupting Stephanie and Kurama's conversation. She pressed a few buttons and pulled up a picture of the artifacts. They were seven orange balls with red stars in the center, arranged in a circle. Stephanie gasped and backed away.

"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked.

Stephanie stood, mouthing wordlessly in shock. Her friends, noticing her startled reaction, got up from their sorting to take a look.

"Are those what I think they are Stephanie?" Kimberly asked.

The others having already taken a look at the picture watched for her reaction. Finally, "What the _hell _are the Dragonballs doing in this dimension?!"


	4. Come Back to Me, My Dragonballs!

Stephanie sat down shakily. "This is so weird," she mumbled. "What the heck is going on?"

"You're just now realizing that this is weird?" Kimberly asked snidely.

"Shut up Kimberly!" Stephanie retorted, massaging her forehead. "It's just a little bit overwhelming when a girl finds herself in one of her favorite anime."

"So what are these Dragonballs?" Kurama asked, trying to break up the potential fight.

"When you collect all seven, a big dragon comes and grants two wishes. It used to be just one, but then Dende remade Shenron so he could grant two, but that's a completely different story entirely," Stephanie explained excitedly.

"One which you have no time to relate," Kurama said sternly, giving the girl a look. Wisely, Stephanie kept quiet. "Where can we find this youkai, Botan?"

"We have reason to believe that he was headed for Maze Castle."

Stephanie frowned nervously when she heard this. "I thought you said that the mission wasn't dangerous," she whined. "I mean, even though the Saint Beasts are dead, shouldn't it—"

Botan cleared her throat and smiled. "Don't worry!" she assured. "Koenma checked; the barrier around the city has been resealed. Nothing can get in or out. All you would have to do is intercept him at the barrier, so you can all go!"

Stephanie smiled apologetically at Mandi, and shook her head. "Not all of us…"

0000000000

Mandi scowled angrily at the TV screen. Stephanie should be shot. It wasn't like she was actually going to fight the youkai. Whatever a youkai even _was_. She would have to remember to ask Stephanie when she came back.

Mandi sighed and turned off the TV, looking down at Kimberly and Datha, who had decided to stay with Genkai, who gave them permission to hang around the temple while the boys were out. When they learned of the potential bloodshed, they weren't exactly overenthusiastic. Datha couldn't stand the sight of blood, and Kimberly wouldn't go if Datha wouldn't. So they decided to stay and keep Mandi company.

Mandi did appreciate the thought, but her friends got to be boring fast. It was probably very late in their dimension, because despite the fact that it was early in the afternoon, they had fallen asleep five minutes after the boys and Stephanie and Brianna left, and were lightly snoring on either side of her. Mandi fervently wished she had her camera with her; Kimberly's mouth was wide open and drool was dribbling down her chin. Another Kodac moment.

Mandi carefully rearranged her friends so they would not fall when she got up, and struggled to her feet. Laying a hand on her belly, she went outside in search of something to do.

Mandi let out a small intake of breath. The old woman who apparently owned the temple with oddly colored hair was doing something… strange. It was difficult for her untrained eyes to catch her movements, but it looked almost like she was dancing, though it was no dance Mandi had ever seen before. She focused her eyes a little bit more, and that was when it hit her. '_She's not dancing, she's training! She must be a martial artist or something._' "Cool."

Genkai put a halt to her training to glare at the girl. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Mandi answered quickly, afraid that she had angered her host. "I was just looking for something to do. Sorry for disturbing you."

"Don't dwell on it child," Genkai sighed. "Believe me, you're not the first. Have you tried the arcade?"

Mandi brightened immediately. "You have an arcade!?" She winced slightly and laid a light hand on her stomach. "Where is it? What games do you have?"

Genkai folded her arms behind her back and walked away from the excited girl. Crestfallen, Mandi turned around and headed back inside, thinking that the old woman would deny her the joys of the arcade. Her spirits returned, however, when Genkai shouted, "Hurry up! Your condition is no excuse to lag behind!"

"Yes ma'am!" Mandi cried with enthusiasm.

0000000000

Brianna was hyper. She had been complaining of thirst as they walked to the warehouse the portal was located at (the same warehouse as the first time they had to go), and so before they went through the portal to the City of Ghosts and Apparitions, Yusuke stopped at the nearest store and bought her a Mountain Dew. This was a mistake on Yusuke's part. Now the girl was doing her best to get on everybody's nerves; even the normally cool-headed Kurama twitched and made like he was going to strangle her every time her back was turned to him.

Brianna belched happily, causing Stephanie and Yusuke to immediately dissolve into giggles. "That's disgusting," Kuwabara mentioned. Brianna stuck her tongue out in retaliation, and Stephanie laughed harder.

"I'll give that a nine out of ten."

Brianna took a bow. "Thank you."

"Are you quite finished?" Hiei said with a disgusted scowl. Behind him, Kurama gave Brianna a look that clearly said '_What the hell is wrong with you?_' "Detective, what on earth possessed you to give the girl that ridiculous carbonated liquid?"

"She was thirsty!" Yusuke said defensively.

"Yeah, Hiei, she could have dehydrated," Stephanie said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "One time, at politics camp—"

"You went to that?!" Brianna screamed in terror, clinging to Kuwabara for support. "Who are you and what the hell have you done with Stephanie!"

"I didn't have a choice Brianna," Stephanie answered in monotone. "Anyway, one time at camp we were going to the Capitol, and it was in the summer and it was really hot. Well, the genius that designed our bus decided that air conditioning was for sissies, so it was even hotter.

"So on the way back, we're all sweating like horses, and I was bored as heck. So I take out my iPod, and I'm listening to my music, but I was also suffering from sleep deprivation. So I lean my head against the window, and the next thing I know, is everyone's freaking out and screaming my name, and one girl was actually checking my pulse."

"What does that have to do with dehydration?" Kuwabara asked.

"Because I think I fainted rather than just falling asleep," Stephanie said, "because when I woke up I was dying of thirst and I had no clue where I was. So the moral of the story is: always bring water on the school bus and don't listen to your iPod, no matter how boring it gets."

"That was beautiful," Brianna sniffed, wiping away an imaginary tear. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Stephanie all gave her weird looks and ran to catch up with Hiei and Kurama.

"We're here," Kurama murmured as they reached the warehouse in question. As they descended down the steps, they noticed a greenish glow, signaling to them that the portal was already open and waiting. Stephanie eagerly jumped through it, clearly not remembering what happened to Yusuke and Kuwabara when they did the same. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed, forgetting the exact same thing. "Ladies first," Kurama said, motioning for Brianna to enter before him and Hiei.

Brianna gave the portal a misgiving look. "Are you sure it's ok?" she asked nervously. That thing did not look safe.

Kurama smiled reassuringly. "Hiei and I have both been through the portal before. It'll be fine!"

Throwing her misgivings aside for the moment, Brianna took Kurama's word for it and dove in. Hiei and Kurama slid in after her, giving each other knowing smirks.

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Brianna popped out of the portal into a dark and desolate world. Lightning flashed ominously, revealing a gray wasteland, dotted with black boulders. In the distance, a giant medieval castle was visible through a glowing green film, which Brianna could only assume was the barrier Botan was talking about.

"Well, this is where Botan said that the thief would be," Yusuke said as he stretched out on the ground. "I guess all we do now is wait."

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"It seems they were expecting us Sire," Dr. Gero commented. He pressed a few buttons on a remote control, and a holographic image of the Reikai Tantei appeared in front of the shadowy creature. Stephanie and Brianna were not in the picture.

"The demon you sent clearly was not as discreet as you claimed." Gero winced and edged away from the hooded creature. But before he got very far away, a pale hand shot out of the black robes and grabbed Gero by the throat. "Were you not so valuable to me," the creature hissed, its acrid breath running across Gero's face, "I would kill you where you stand for your incompetence! Now, you will find a way to stop those blasted Spirit Detectives, and you will dispose of your careless demon."

"Of course," Gero nodded. On his way out of the throne room, he paused. "Sire?"

"What do you want now?" the creature snapped.

"I was wondering if I could do any experiments with the youkai?"

"Do with him as you will," the creature assented, waving its hand in dismissal.

Dr. Gero grinned maliciously and scurried away before his master could get really angry. He would send an onslaught of robots for the Tantei, and a few retrieval bots for the youkai and the Dragonballs.

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Kuwabara stared uneasily at Maze Castle through the barrier. "Guys, it's really subtle, but I think there's somethin' really tough in that castle," he said nervously.

Yusuke opened an eye and glared at his teammate. "Quit being stupid," he sneered. "The Saint Beasts have been dead for a long time; there's nothing there!"

"No Yusuke," Kurama grunted. Earlier, Brianna had thought it would be funny to jump on Hiei's back, and if it weren't for Kurama, she'd have an irritated fire demon on her tail. She glared at Stephanie, who found the whole situation rather amusing, and went off to go sulk somewhere. "As I was saying," Kurama said, straightening out once Hiei had calmed down, "Kuwabara's right. There _is_ something there, but I wouldn't consider it a threat; not with the barrier in place."

Yusuke opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a high-pitched scream. "Guys, I think that was Brianna," Stephanie informed everyone. "We'd better hurry; Brianna's a decent fighter when it comes to masochistic perverts, younger siblings and jackass ex-boyfriends, but I doubt she'd be able to stand up against a demon. And don't ask how you fight off a masochistic pervert; it is difficult and unpleasant."

The five of them took off toward the source of the scream, Hiei of course leading the way. Kuwabara ran alongside Stephanie in the rear, while Yusuke and Kurama were somewhere in the middle. "So," Kuwabara said conversationally, "you and Brianna fight?"

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "Yes…" she answered defensively. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, it's just that… you two are girls."

Stephanie's lip curled into a nasty snarl, but Kuwabara missed the look. Had he realized, he would have kept the girl ahead of him, instead of letting her lag behind. Once she reached a sufficient amount of distance away from Kuwabara, Stephanie took a running leap, landing nimbly on his back. Kuwabara let out a surprised yelp and skidded face first in the dirt.

"I find that girls are the most dangerous fighters out there, especially for boys," Stephanie whispered in his ear, and leapt off again to her friend's aid.

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Brianna backed away slowly from the monster before her. Venom dripped from the hulking purple _thing's_ fangs as it dropped its bag and headed toward the terrified human. The demon's discarded sack pulsed in a yellow light, signifying that this was indeed the youkai that had stolen the Dragonballs.

Brianna received a light shock when her back hit the barrier, and she staggered away from it. The beast lumbered toward her still, a hungry, almost lustful grin on its hideous face. Brianna's eyes darted around in search of an escape route, but found none. Swallowing a surge of fear, she reached into her jean pocket for the trusty pocketknife that had always come in handy to deter any potential rapists and/or kidnappers whenever she and her sister went walking in the dead of night. Belatedly remembering that she had not brought it with her to Stephanie's where their whole ordeal began; Brianna sprinted off in a different direction.

She heard the creature grunt in surprise and pain, but did not stop to see. Not even when she heard Stephanie calling her name did she slow down.

"Brianna! BRIANNA!" Stephanie cried desperately. If she kept running in that direction, they would be lost in the Makai, completely defenseless. Finally, Brianna skidded to a stop. "About time! Come on; let's go back. The guys will have defeated that… Oh my God." Just over the hill, an army of egg-shaped robots, all bearing the initials RR floated in their direction.

With a sense of urgency, Stephanie tugged on Brianna's arm. "Bri, we have to _go_!" Brianna didn't react; in fact she didn't even seem aware of her friend's presence. Seeing that her attempts of moving the panic-stricken girl were all in vain, Stephanie slipped into a defensive position, hoping that the little knowledge she had in martial arts would be enough to hold the robots off until the Tantei chose to make an appearance.

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Hiei stared dispassionately at the felled creature, and removed his katana from the thing's heart. The fight had not lasted long; that demon was almost as weak as a regular human was. He watched as Kurama retrieved the sack and removed one of the balls.

"What an intriguing item," he murmured, holding it up in order to get a better look at it.

"Don't even think about it, fox boy," Yusuke warned. "Put that thing up. We gotta go find those two."

Kurama reluctantly replaced the Dragonball in its sack and slung it over his shoulder. He fell into step behind Kuwabara, who was reaching out with his sixth sense for the girls' ki signals. Suddenly Kuwabara's brows furrowed, and he quickened his pace.

"There's something goin' on with Stephanie's energy," he informed his teammates. "It keeps going down steadily, like she's losing a fight or something."

"And Brianna's?" Yusuke asked in concern.

"Nah, it's the same. I think whatever's goin' on, that Stephanie's protecting Brianna from something. I don't know what though," Kuwabara hesitated. "I don't sense any demons nearby, do you guys?" he asked Hiei and Kurama.

Both demons shook their heads. The nearest demon they could sense was several kilometers away—nowhere near the girls.

As they came upon the hill, Kuwabara took off in a sprint. It was now very clear as to why Stephanie's ki was dropping; her arm hung uselessly at her side, blood slowly dripping down her hand. Fortunately, that seemed to be her most serious injury. It was not, however, the only one: her eye was almost swollen shut, and most of her face was colored black and blue from being repeatedly hit. She seemed to be favoring her left leg; most likely a pulled or strained muscle or a twisted ankle, and her chin was smeared with blood from a torn lip. It was surprising that she was still conscious.

Brianna fared a little better, but not by much. She at least had the use of all her limbs. Try as she might, Stephanie could not keep all the robots away from her friend, who remained detached from the world despite the chaos surrounding them.

By chance, Stephanie looked up and saw the Tantei. "Damn it Brianna, MOVE!" she cried, jamming her uninjured elbow into Brianna's back. She stumbled a little, but still did not fully react. Changing tactics, Stephanie whispered in her ear, "Brianna, if we get out of the way, we might get to see Hiei use his Dragon."

Stephanie had struck a chord. Brianna loved dragons. "Hiei has a dragon?! Coo—AAHH!" Brianna screamed as a mechanical fist headed her way. Just barely, she ducked, but the robot's fist connected with Stephanie's head.

She staggered back, her eyes slightly crossed. Yet another lovely bruise was already blooming between her eyes where she'd been hit, and the blackness that had already been threatening to take over filled her vision. "Ow," she breathed, and, unable to tolerate the pain any longer, fainted into Kuwabara's arms, just as he reached them.

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**Oohh, cliff-hanger. FEAR ME!!!!**


	5. Concussion

**I am _so _sorry for taking so long to update!!!!! I am going to shoot whoever started the rumor that your senior year is the fun year. I have been so freaking busy it's not funny. I was going to make this chapter a bit longer, but I figured I've been keeping you waiting for too long anyways, so consider this a late Christmas present.**

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Dr. Gero steadily grew angrier as he watched the events unfolding on the screen. This was not supposed to happen! How could his robot army have come out at the wrong place?! He'd be having a word with a certain pair of cybernetic twins about this…

He pressed a few buttons on his hand-held, and two teenagers appeared on the holographic screen, one male and the other female. The male had shoulder-length black hair and ice blue eyes. They twinkled in amusement, and an arrogant smirk played across his lips. He wore a black t-shirt over a white long-sleeved shirt, and torn jeans. A handgun was haphazardly placed in a holster wrapped loosely about his hips, though he didn't need it. He also wore an orange bandana around his neck.

The girl was the complete inverse of her male counterpart. Her hair was platinum blonde and about an inch shorter than her brother's. She wore jeans and a white t-shirt with a black vest over it.

"What do you want, old man?" the boy asked softly. His voice sounded irritated, but the smug look on his face said otherwise.

"You know exactly why I'm calling you," Gero snapped. "You and Eighteen deliberately sent my army to the wrong coordinates!"

Eighteen shrugged indifferently at the mention. "It was funny," was the only explanation she had to offer.

"I had thought," Gero growled at the Androids, "that I fixed that little attitude problem you inherited from the original Seventeen and Eighteen in our own dimension! You do understand that the King will not let us go unpunished?"

"He is not our master!" Seventeen snarled. "And neither are you."

"We're leaving the castle old man," Eighteen said calmly as Seventeen drew his gun from its holster, "and you can't stop us." Seventeen aimed at the control panel off screen and fired. The image faltered, and was replaced by static.

Gero let loose a long string of curses, which ended with an enraged scream.

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"Come on Seventeen," Eighteen urged as she hurried out the door. "We have to get through the barrier before the old man thinks to shut us down. That should be far enough away for us to be out of range."

Seventeen glared at his sister before taking off after her. "This had better work," he mumbled. "I am _not_ spending the rest of my life serving some creep that's too afraid to show his face."

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They were hopelessly outnumbered, with two non-fighters to protect. One of them was unable to do anything other than drool, and the other was not of much use. Stephanie was slung over Kuwabara's back; while he did his best to fight with one hand and make sure the unconscious girl sustained no more injuries. Brianna did her best to keep up, but the robots were programmed in martial arts, and her only real fighting experience was with her sister and that weird guy who wouldn't stop coming on to her no matter how hard she hit him. Because she was of little help to anyone else, she stayed close to Kuwabara to help protect her friend. Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei took on most of the robots, though Yusuke was beginning to tire.

Kurama quickly surrounded the group in a cloud of rose petals, so that Hiei could safely remove the bandages sealing his Dragon. Brianna glanced curiously at the petals, then at Kurama. When Stephanie had described Kurama's technique after she expressed slight interest in the show, it had sounded sissy. Now, seeing it in real life, it was pretty cool.

"What's he doing?" she asked, diverting her attention to Hiei, who was still unraveling his bandages.

"He is about to unleash the Dragon," Kurama answered in a low voice. He always enjoyed the look of terror on their opponent's face when Hiei decided to call on his Dragon. It was such a shame that robots hadn't the capacity for fear.

Brianna was impressed. Her favorite mythical creature had always been the dragon, and she knew they were difficult to handle. She watched as the tattoo winding around Hiei's arm shimmered into life, and swooped down on the attacking army with a roar. Nothing but char remained of the robots as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame returned to its resting place on Hiei's arm. When Hiei collapsed, Kurama was right there to re-ward his Dragon and Jagan.

Brianna was speechless. A real live dragon… She returned her gaze to the Spirit Detectives, and was almost sent into another panic when she realized that they were already leaving. She gave a little shriek and quickly caught up.

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Seventeen and Eighteen reached the barrier just in time to witness the taller brown-haired girl faint. They exchanged amused glances; the girl was pitifully weak.

"This could be fun," Seventeen said, watching his sister with his eyes.

"Whatever," she shrugged. "The redhead's pretty cute."

Seventeen just rolled his eyes. He sure hoped that Eighteen meant the one brandishing the thorned whip every which way; that other carrot-top looked like he'd gotten his ass kicked one too many times.

The twins quickly took cover behind one of the many oversized boulders, occasionally taking potshots at robots foolish enough to come close.

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By the time they reached the portal, Stephanie still hadn't regained consciousness, although Hiei had. "She's only human," Kurama explained when Yusuke irritably asked what was wrong with the girl, "and she took a pretty hard blow to the head. It may be several hours before she returns to consciousness."

Sure enough, it wasn't until the group reached Genkai's temple that Stephanie began to show sign of awareness.

"Hey, put me down," she complained groggily when it registered in her brain that she was being carried. Kuwabara gently set her down; she was a bit wobbly on her feet. When she recovered, she grinned up at Kurama. "Hi Foxy!" she giggled, sidling up closer to the redheaded fox, who unsuccessfully made to escape. "You're just _so _hot, Kurama," Stephanie continued, either failing to notice or just not caring about his escape attempt. "I could jump you right now."

Brianna was shocked. Stephanie… flirting? Flirting was not within Stephanie's capabilities! It was sickening just to watch.

After happily giving Kurama a little peck on the cheek (at which Brianna nearly gagged) Stephanie joyfully skipped all the way up the many steps to the temple.

"Where did she get the energy?" Yusuke whined.

"It's probably a concussion," Hiei theorized. "She'll be out by the time she reaches the top."

As it turned out, Hiei was, in fact, wrong.

Instead of on the ground unconscious, Stephanie was nowhere to be seen. "Well, this is fun," Yusuke stated sarcastically.

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Mandi was intent on her game. Though the child she carried adamantly protested the physical activity, Mandi was addicted to DDR. It could only be expected from a girl who was on the dance team for almost seven years.

"Hi Mandi!"

Mandi winced at the shrillness of the voice she recognized as Stephanie's. She wondered who was the idiot that let her have Mountain Dew. Stephanie never got that loud unless she's had large amounts of sugar; or if someone's really pissed her off.

Making a quick decision, Mandi turned off the game and faced her friend. It wasn't that often that Stephanie got this hyper, and Mandi was going to enjoy it as long as it lasted.

"So did you have fun on your mission… thing…?" Mandi stared in horror at the large and colorful bump in the middle of Stephanie's forehead. "Uh… are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Stephanie answered cheerily. "There was this big robot army that I had to fight alone because Brianna freaked when the demon showed up and then I got knocked unconscious and Kurama and Hiei are both really sexy." All of this was said as if it were one word.

Mandi gave her friend a confused look as she tried to sort out her words. "Stephanie, you're not making any sense," she said as Stephanie cartwheeled around the room. _'I'm guessing that the bruise right between her eyes has something to do with the way she's acting…'_ Mandi thought to herself. _'I think I'd better go find Yukina. At least, I think it's Yukina I'm looking for…'_ With that last thought, she left her friend just as she was discovering that she was in the arcade room.

Mandi found the red-eyed girl tending the garden in front of the temple.

"Hey, it's Yukina, right?" she asked as she approached the ice maiden.

Yukina smiled politely and nodded. "Yes, I am. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually, there is," Mandi answered. "Stephanie's acting weirder than she usually does. I think it has something to do with the bump on her forehead."

"Oh my! Yukina exclaimed. "I wasn't even aware that they had returned. Of course I will help you!"

Mandi smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Come on, I left her in the arcade pretending to be a cheerleader."

She led Yukina to Genkai's famed arcade, chatting idly with the ice demon. Mandi found she liked the girl. Her first impression was one of weakness; she was someone to be protected. But as Yukina explained her involvement with the Spirit Detectives, Mandi's respect for her grew. She was shocked by the tortures Tarukane imposed upon her, and promised sincerely that she'd do whatever she could to help find her brother.

They were both concerned by Stephanie's absence from the arcade room. They searched every possible nook and cranny she could have hidden in, and found nothing but dust bunnies.

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Stephanie approached Kimberly and Datha, who were both still asleep on the floor, with a sly smirk plastered on her face. In her hands she carried a can of whipped cream and a feather. Where she got the two items was a mystery, even to her own self. The past five minutes were a complete blank. All she knew of were two little voices, both of them telling her to create havoc and chaos.

Obediently following the orders of the voices in her head, Stephanie sprayed liberal amounts of Cool Whip into her friends' hands. Snickering devilishly with the oddly familiar voices, she tickled her friends' noses and laughed outright when their cream-filled hands swatted at the irritant. Luckily for her, they both remained in their slumbering state.

Now that her task was complete, the result of Stephanie's prank seemed a bit anticlimactic to her. The voices agreed. She shook up the Cool Whip and covered Kimberly and Datha in a nice layer of the sweet treat.

"Huh," she commented as the can started to sputter. Kimberly snorted in her sleep and rolled over to face Datha. Shrugging, Stephanie tossed the empty can of Cool Whip over her shoulder and wandered outside.

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Brianna couldn't help but laugh with Yusuke and Kuwabara when they came across Stephanie's handiwork. Kurama, smiling slightly in amusement, set to waking the two up. The horrified expressions on their faces sent Yusuke and Kuwabara into another fit of hysteria.

"What. The. Hell," Kimberly spat. Datha jumped and slowly edged away. Kimberly never cursed. Never. "There had better be a really good reason for why me and Datha are covered in this stupid whipped cream!"

Not in the least bit fazed, Kurama explained. "I honestly don't know why this happened, but I'm certain I know the perpetrator. Bringing Stephanie and Brianna to Makai was not the smartest decision to make."

"You should have seen it!" Kuwabara chimed in enthusiastically. "She took on a whole army by herself to protect Brianna!"

Datha gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! Are you ok?" She directed her question at Brianna.

Brianna shrugged indifferently before answering. "I'm fine. Stephanie's got a concussion."

Datha's heart went out to her friend. But before she could say anything, Kimberly cut her off. "So you're saying this," she gestured at herself and Datha, "is Stephanie's fault?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Yusuke grinned.

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A devious presence lurked in the shadows, watching them. She paid special attention to her prey: the redheaded fox and the short fire demon. As always, they stood relatively close to one another. This made her job a little easier.

Encouraged by those blasted voices, Stephanie crept up on the unsuspecting fire demon. Or, so she thought. As soon as she got close enough, Stephanie found a katana wielded by an irritated Hiei pressed against her neck. Silently, she told the voices in a not-very-nice way to be quiet.

"Is there any particular reason for your pitiful attempt to sneak up on me?" Hiei asked in a dangerously quiet voice. It was the same tone that made most people wet their pants.

"None that I can think of," Stephanie replied, far too cheerfully for a person in her position.

Hiei was completely flabbergasted. Not even Kurama could be that damn optimistic when he had him pinned, and they almost never fought to the death anymore. The girl knew well what he could do to her (he knew this because of the Jagan), and her behavior unsettled him; he was accustomed to his opponents cowering before him when they learned of his abilities.

He quickly recovered though, and his hand was at her throat in less than a second. "I'll ask again before I start squeezing," Hiei growled. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, get over it, shrimp!" Kuwabara protested. He had only known her for half a day, but he was already beginning to like Stephanie. He didn't like that Hiei intended to hurt his new friend. Besides, it wasn't right to pick on girls. "It's not like she was gonna try to kill you or nothin', she's only a human!"

Stephanie, Yusuke, and Hiei all blinked in shocked. Hiei was so surprised that he relinquished his hold on Stephanie's throat. "Kuwabara, something intelligent actually came out of your mouth!" Yusuke exclaimed, clouting the other boy on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you, buddy."

Datha, Brianna, and Kimberly looked on confusedly. "How come it's so surprising that he's making sense?" Brianna asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure Kuwabara's a smart guy," Datha added, smiling at the orange-haired teenager.

"Datha, there's really no need to kiss his ass; it's Hiei you want to worry about," Stephanie said happily. "Kuwabara's just a big, stupid, carrot-topped teddy bear. He won't hurt you. Unless…" She trailed off, hit with sudden realization. "Someone's got a crush!" she gleefully shouted, jumping up and down and pointing. Before anybody realized what was happening, Stephanie skipped away, singing loudly to herself.

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**Again, sorry about the wait. I'll try to be better about it next time. Please review!**


	6. Welcome to my World

**Well, sorry this chapter is so short. It would've been a bit longer, but I ran out of room in the notebook I was using for this fic. Instead of making you people wait until I got a new one to write in, I decided to go ahead and put this chapter up. I'm trying to be better about updating at least once a month, so the next chapter will probably be up fairly soon.**

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The boys and Brianna headed outside in pursuit of the afflicted girl, while Kimberly and Datha cleaned themselves up. They were met with an odd spectacle.

Stephanie was bouncing around the roof, singing into her fist as if it were a microphone. Mandi and Yukina stood below, watching anxiously. Yukina glanced occasionally at Mandi, carefully studying her face for any sign of pain; this kind of stress was not good for her.

"What is she doing up there?" Brianna asked as the group filed out to stand next to the girls, their eyes glued to Stephanie.

"She thinks she's Avril Lavigne," Mandi answered, her eyes never leaving Stephanie. "What's sad is that she's not singing anything that sounds remotely like Avril Lavigne."

"Don't worry Yukina-chan!" Kuwabara cried. He struck a pose so the ice maiden could admire his muscles, and continued his boastful tirade. "I, the Great Kuwabara Kazuma will single-handedly rescue the poor damsel in distress!"

"Damsel?" Brianna said in an undertone to Mandi. "I wouldn't exactly consider her all of people a damsel."

"Heck, I'm surprised he even knows what the word means," Yusuke added, walking up to stand beside the two. "'Cause I sure don't."

Brianna and Mandi stared at him like he was stupid (which was technically true) and turned back to watch Kuwabara's attempt to "rescue" Stephanie. It wasn't going quite as well as he had planned. He was having some difficulty finding a way onto the roof. It was amazing she had done it.

"Damn it!" Kuwabara cursed when he failed to scale the wall. "Why don't you just come down and save us the trouble of having to get you!" Stephanie surprised everyone present by actually ceasing her antics, and sitting down to think about it.

"Us?" Hiei sneered while she pondered. "What happened to 'single-handedly rescuing the damsel in distress'?"

"Shut up shrimp!" Kuwabara screamed in retaliation.

"Okay!" A bright voice cut through the evening air, and before anyone knew what was going on, Stephanie had jumped.

"No!" Yukina cried. She moved forward as if to stop her, but it was already too late.

Hiei glared at the stupid girl. Because of her lack of common sense, Yukina was now upset. And Yukina being upset was not permissible. Making a quick decision, Hiei flickered out of sight.

About halfway down, much to the surprise of the on-lookers, Stephanie flickered out of sight as well. Kurama glanced to his left, and found that Hiei had been the cause of her little disappearing act. She was cradled in his arms, giggling. "Now Hiei, what's Kurama going to think!" she laughed.

Mandi and Brianna burst out laughing. They knew that despite living in what was known as the Bible Belt of Texas, Stephanie had no problem with same-sex relationships. She had actually managed to prove to Mandi's satisfaction that homosexuality was not a sin. Brianna also knew for a fact that Hiei/Kurama was her favorite couple, even though it wasn't technically official.

Hiei grunted and dropped the girl gracelessly on her butt, leaving for the forest in a huff. "I think he's mad," Stephanie commented, rubbing her behind as she stood. Before she could say or do anything else, though, Yusuke had pinned her arms behind her back. "What the heck!" she snarled, struggling to get loose. Unfortunately for her, the detective was far stronger than she could ever hope to be.

"Yukina, it's all you," Yusuke said, turning to the ice maiden so she could have better access to the injury. Stephanie flinched slightly when Yukina passed her glowing hand over the ugly bruise, but she put on a defiantly brave face. She didn't understand why, but her mental companions commanded her to resist the healing. Despite the migraine and growing weariness, Stephanie obeyed without question.

By the time Yukina was done with the healing, she was very concerned. Most humans with concussions wouldn't be this active; they would be unconscious most of the time, and when they were awake, they were weak and in pain. Yukina also knew for a fact that before the healing was even over, Stephanie should have passed out. All of her previous patients with head injuries could not stay conscious after she healed them, if they were even conscious in the first place.

In light of this perplexing situation, Yukina concluded that she had not completely healed the girl. She pressed deeper into the girl's head, looking for signs of any more damage she could fix. If it was as bad as she feared, there may be no hope for the human.

If not for the extensive scan of her head, Yukina would have missed the two very not-human ki controlling Stephanie's actions. As it was, they were so faint she had to check three times to be sure they weren't some figment of an overactive imagination. Though her finding dispelled her worries of irreparable brain damage, it brought up several new concerns.

"Mind control?" Yusuke asked after Yukina brought this disturbing news to light. "Why would anyone want to control Stephanie's brain?"

"This is indeed worrying information," Kurama added, looking thoughtful. "Do they know Stephanie's connection to us, and if so, what is their grievance? We should proceed with caution."

"So what do we do about her?" Brianna asked, pointing at Stephanie. She had a blank look in her eyes, and all her muscles seemed to stop working. Her legs couldn't even support the rest of her body, and she hung limply in Yusuke's arms.

Kurama peered into soft green eyes in an attempt to discern Stephanie's new ailment. She merely stared back, unblinking and completely unresponsive. "My theory is that, in her mind, she's battling it out with those trying to control her. It would explain her comatose state."

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Stephanie awoke in a small hut she did not recognize at all. A fire crackled in a fireplace a few feet away. The strange thing about the fire was that it was purple. "Well, that's certainly not normal," Stephanie said aloud. Her voice seemed to echo in the small space. She slowly stood and crossed the little room to the doorway and left.

A large object, which was roughly her size, greeted her by tackling her to the ground. Stephanie struggled helplessly against her assailant; it took her a few seconds to understand that she was not being attacked, but, for whatever reason, was being hugged. The thing finally released its chokehold, and looked Stephanie full in the face. Her eyes grew wide; the thing that was hugging her was her exact copy.

Stephanie shrieked in terror and crawled back toward the hut, only to find that it was gone. She tried to run, but found another look-alike blocking her intended escape route. This one was far more terrifying than the hyperactive clone; she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, giving a death glare that would make even Hiei wet his britches. Her hair, which had a dark tint to it, fell over her eyes, making her look almost demonic.

Stephanie shrank back and away from the demon girl, shaking uncontrollably. "Oh, stop it, can't you tell she's freaked!" the hyperactive clone scolded lightly. "It's alright, Us, it'll all be explained in due time."

"What did you call me?" Stephanie asked quietly, sticking close to her less psychotic-looking clone.

"She called you 'Us'," the demon-girl answered off-handedly. She grinned evilly, allowing one of her long fangs to gleam in the dim light. "You are a mixture of all of us combined, so that is what we call you."

"We're taking you to the Commander now. She'll answer the questions you're probably bursting with," the other clone said with a smile.

"Okay," Stephanie said, still slightly disturbed. The two clone-Stephanies led the original into a dense forest of the oddest trees Stephanie ever laid eyes on. There were a few normal ones, like oak and pine, and Stephanie though she saw a cherry tree, but most were downright bizarre. There were several shades of purple throughout the woods, and some that had vines sporting dagger-like thorns growing on them. Others played loud and obnoxious rock music as you passed them, and Stephanie even caught sight of a tree with the cutest little kittens growing on it. Her less-than-pleasant double had to physically drag both her and the hyper clone away from that particular tree.

"Thank God there are no Chibi Trees around here," she muttered.

Finally, the trees thinned, and the forest gave way to a large meadow. Like the woods, the color purple was prevalent. Lavender clouds drifted across the deep plum sky, casting a purplish tint on the silver grass and origami flowers. In the middle of the meadow was a white mansion. Many more Stephanie-clones bustled in and out of the mansion; it seemed to be their main headquarters.

"This is where the Commander lives," the perpetually happy clone informed. "You'll see more of us here."

"There are more of you psychos?" Stephanie asked warily.

The demonic clone laughed, a shrill and evil sound. "Of course," she said, smirking at the now terrified girl. "What did you expect? Naked bishounen?"

"…It would have been nice!"

0000000000

Yusuke carried Stephanie's limp body back inside the temple, where Datha was just emerging from the bathroom. Kimberly could be heard grumbling within.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to her!" Datha screamed when she caught sight of her friend. Stephanie stared at her, showing no sign of recognition.

"I believe she has been pulled into her subconscious, where she is most likely combating the being controlling her brain," Kurama supplied. Datha stared at him blankly.

"You know how she sometimes spaces out and goes off into her own little world?" Mandi said, trying to help explain. Datha nodded; she was familiar with the phenomenon. "Take that and times it by ten thousand, and that's Stephanie right now."

"Oh."

* * *

**If you hadn't already noticed, my favorite color is purple. I actually got the idea for the meadow from the song "Imaginary", by Evanescence. Good song...**


	7. Discovery

"I'm not sure how to say this, Us," the Commander stated, "but you're in your own mind."

Stephanie stared, nonplussed, at the Commander. How was that possible? She didn't even want to think about it; it would give her a headache. But still…

"How in the name of cheese did this happen!?" It had to be asked.

"Evil grabbed a hold on your conscious though and pulled you in," another Stephanie answered. This one wore glasses, and looked like a general know-it-all.

"Let me explain," the Commander said, giving the newcomer a warning look. She expected total silence when she was speaking. "We are the embodiments of all the different aspects of your personality. I," she jabbed her thumb at her chest as she spoke, "am the Commander. Without me, this place would be utter chaos."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," the demon-girl muttered.

"That," the Commander continued, pointing at the one who had spoken, "is Evil. Ever wonder where you get the urge to stab people?"

"I had always assumed it was the idiots I'm forced to coexist with, but go ahead, enlighten me," Stephanie answered. It was true; sometimes she really wanted to grab the nearest sharp object and just go crazy.

"Well, that would be her. She's not all bad, though," the Commander added. "She pulled you in here at my request."

"So then there is a specific reason why I'm here."

"Yes, Happiness – the other girl who accompanied you here – stumbled upon something you probably need to be aware of." The Commander took a deep breath and launched in her explanation. "Mischief, another aspect of your personality, completely took over your actions. You weren't aware of this. Usually I would take care of the problem myself, but she's got two individuals helping her. I think you might be familiar with them."

The Commander beckoned Stephanie to follow, and led her down a short hallway. The other clones present stayed where they were. "This may be a bit shocking," the Commander warned as they stopped in front of a large file cabinet. Glancing worriedly at Stephanie, she pulled out a file, pointing at two specific photos.

"These are the two helping Mischief."

0000000000

Every Reikai Tantei member except for one had gathered in separate room away from the girls to speak with Koenma. The Dragonballs lay in a circle on the floor, pulsing in a yellow light. "I see you've retrieved the artifacts; good," Koenma said, getting right to the point. "I trust the demon is dead?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Yusuke grinned devilishly. "It was nothin'! Me and Hiei took that thing out no problem!"

"Speaking of Hiei, why isn't he here?" Koenma asked, searching around the room for the little demon. "He should be here."

Yusuke and Kuwabara gave each other knowing looks and dissolved into giggles. "Ask his boyfriend," Yusuke snorted, pointing at Kurama. Koenma stared at the fox in confusion.

The lovely kitsune smirked in amusement, "Stephanie is apparently a yaoi fan," he supplied. "She insinuated that he and I are partners."

"I see. Anyhow, now that the artifacts have been recovered, I have some information for you."

"Do tell," Yusuke quickly sobered up, hoping that this new information would help with his mission and the girls. They were proving to be more high maintenance than Keiko sometimes was, but not because they meant to be. Mandi, being pregnant and in a stressful situation, needed to be closely watched; and Stephanie's problem left them all at a loss. Not to mention the fact that Brianna probably had some serious issues (that she was hiding quite well if they existed) with her experience in Makai. And the girls had only been up and about for a day and a half.

"Those artifacts that were stolen are not from this planet," Koenma informed them frankly. "I don't think they're even from this universe, but that can't be proven. What we do know is that they are very powerful, and should be destroyed if at all possible."

"What if we were to use them to our advantage?" Kurama asked cautiously. He needed to word his suggestion carefully, or it would be immediately discarded. "The one called Stephanie is familiar with the artifacts. I believe she called them Dragonballs. Supposedly a dragon will grant a wish to whoever gathers all seven."

"Stop, Kurama," Koenma interrupted. "I know where you're going with this, and I can understand why, but I can't risk it. We don't know what will happen when the dragon is summoned, how the dragon will react to being summoned, or what the cost of having our wish granted will be. I'm sorry Kurama, but there are far too many variables," the young prince explained. "I would, however, like to speak with Stephanie concerning these 'Dragonballs'. She may prove valuable."

"Umm…" Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other nervously, and then looked at Kurama with almost identical pleading eyes. "I'll just let Kuwabara and Kurama tell what happened," Yusuke said quickly, trying to make a break for it.

"Oh no, Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted, grabbing the back of the retreating Detective's shirt. "You ain't leaving us alone with this!" He wrestled with the smaller boy, pinning him to the ground.

"Kuwabara…" Yusuke growled ferally. He quickly turned the tide, holding the taller boy in a headlock. Kuwabara struggled to get free, his angry screams muffled because his face was pressed into Yusuke's armpit.

"Enough you two," Koenma said calmly and quietly. He was clearly seething. "Now, I want you to tell me, without fighting or arguing, exactly what you idiots have done to the girls!"

"First off, I would like to point out that Botan said it would be okay!" Yusuke said quickly, eager to lay the blame on someone other than him. "We brought Stephanie and Brianna with us to that city place."

"WHAT!" Koenma screamed. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Both assured us they had basic self-defense training," Kurama replied calmly. "We did not expect an army of robots to attack us."

"Army of robots?" Koenma asked, going a little pale.

"Yeah, weren't you watching on that TV thing you got?" Kuwabara said. "I had to protect the girls while the other three did nothing! The lazy bums." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his two teammates, daring them to challenge him.

"I had other work to do," Koenma retorted. "Well, at least no one was hurt."

"Umm…"

"Yusuke!"

0000000000

"I feel like a freakin' Mary Sue," Stephanie growled irritably.

"How so?" the Commander asked. Stephanie certainly didn't act like a Mary Sue; psychotic fan-girl, yes, but definitely not a Mary Sue.

"I magically wind up in one of my favorite fandoms, and my favorite characters just saved my ass," she answered. "That doesn't sound Mary Sue-ish?"

The Commander just smiled enigmatically. "And now two of your favorite characters are in your head. I suppose I can see how you can call yourself a Mary Sue."

The two emerged from the small hallway and back into the main room. There was a significantly larger amount of mind-clones than there were before, and they all seemed to be preparing for battle. Stephanie raised her eyebrows, watching them. "I've got an army?"

"Don't you think it's necessary?" Commander asked watching her counterpart in confusion.

"Well, I just don't think all of them are fit for battle. Look," she said, pointing out several of her clones. "That one is putting on makeup. It looks like she's about to go on a date! This one over here looks like she's about to crap her pants, and that one decked out in all the crosses is praying!" she all but shouted, catching the attention of her personalities. "I mean, yeah, it's good to have a strong faith, but it's not going to save your ass in battle."

Stephanie blushed when she realized she had an audience. Several of them seemed a bit angry, but quite a few were smirking and even laughing. Evil, for example, was definitely having trouble keeping a straight face.

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Commander asked, smiling encouragingly at her. She was actually proud that their combined self would point out the flaws in their plan so quickly.

"We should only bring a few people with us," Stephanie said, her confidence once again returning. She strode around the room, examining all the different aspects of her personality. She hadn't realized just how complex she was. "Evil should come, because, well, she's evil. She could probably give us some insight into Seventeen and Eighteen's motives since they were created by an evil scientist.

"Also, I think you should come," Stephanie added, pointing at a girl dressed in a black fighting gi. "You look like you know how to fight."

"Evil, Warrior, let's go," the Commander ordered, waving them on. "The rest of you can go back to what you were doing."

The Commander led the other three look-alikes out the door and back into the odd meadow. "Okay, Us, you are essential for what we are about to do," she said, trying to explain things before they rushed into battle. "This is your mind, and therefore you wield quite a bit of power. Evil, Warrior, and I might not even need to fight, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"That makes sense," Stephanie nodded, agreeing to what was said. "But how do I fight them?"

"This is your mind," the one called Warrior spoke up for the first time. "All you need do is think it, and it will happen."

"Cool," Stephanie muttered. "So anything I think will happen? Let's try this out…" Her brows furrowed while she concentrated, and her eyes glowed white for a few seconds. As they returned to their normal green, two figures appeared, both with spiky hair, across the meadow. The two immediately jumped each other. Black clothes and a blue spandex suit flew in every direction as Hiei and Vegeta proceeded to screw the crap out of each other.

"I always wondered what that pairing would be like," Stephanie said thoughtfully. "It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be." She closed her eyes, and the disturbing image dissipated.

"You are sick," the Commander commented, looking a little green. Evil was clutching her side, laughing hysterically. The idea of Hiei and Vegeta as a couple was a new one to her, and the image of their naked bodies pressed together would be great for tormenting others.

"You have no idea how many times I've been told that." Stephanie smiled at the embarrassed mind-clone. "Now, lead the way, I've got Androids to vanquish!"

0000000000

"Someone's coming," Eighteen said calmly. She glanced at her brother and their new friend; they weren't paying any attention to her. They were too busy trying to find a way to retake their host body. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She placed a palm to the back of each of their heads and shoved them into the dirt. "I said somebody's coming!"

"You don't have to be so forceful," their friend whined. Seventeen just glared at Eighteen, his ice blue eyes boring a hole into her skull. Not in the least bit intimidated, Eighteen glared back.

"We should find some place to hide," she said in her eerily calm voice.

"But where's the fun in that?" Seventeen asked, a devilish smirk on his face. Their new friend immediately perked up, anxious to see her heroes in action and more than a little happy for a chance to cause more trouble. Eighteen sighed and sat down heavily on a nearby boulder. This whole idea reeked of pointlessness and stupidity, and she hated how easily her brother dragged her into it.

0000000000

If looks could kill, Yusuke would be dead (again) courtesy of Koenma. He was furious that the Spirit Detective would be so irresponsible as to bring two defenseless teenagers to Makai. He was also sorely disappointed with Kurama and Hiei. Both should have known better.

The prince of Spirit World looked down at Stephanie's limp body, trying to decide on a course of action that wouldn't make the situation worse. Her friends, all of whom were worried sick about her, had been shooed from the room so Koenma could think. The task would be a great deal easier if he could take a look into the girl's mind…

"Kurama," Koenma said sharply. He had an idea, but he needed the fox to implement it.

Kurama stared at him expectantly. "Yes?" he prompted.

"I am sending you on a mission," the junior god answered after collecting his thoughts. He was formulating a plan in his head. "You are to find Hiei and bring him here. I want him to enter Stephanie's mind and assist her."

"He will not agree to it," Kurama answered. "Hiei does not like to think that he is attached to anybody, should they be male or female." He glared pointedly at Yusuke and Kuwabara, who had dissolved into giggles when Kurama said the word "attached". "Stephanie's comment angered him, and it is doubtful that my presence is welcome."

"You will do it anyway," Koenma ordered, leaving no more room for argument. "As for you two," Koenma then turned to the other teenage boys present, trusting that his command would be carried out. Dutifully, Kurama left in search of Hiei.

"I want you to keep the other four distracted, especially Mandi. I don't want her giving birth prematurely because of stress; it could cause us a great deal of unnecessary trouble. It might also be a good idea to watch Brianna for any side effects from your little escapade," he advised, frowning his displeasure at the two. "I will have Botan watch Stephanie for any sign of reactivity."

Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded and left, contemplating how to keep the girls occupied and their minds off their comatose friend.

0000000000

"Seventeen and Eighteen," a clear voice rang across the boulder strewn field. Four identical pairs of sea green eyes glared at the Androids. "I take it you're Mischief?" Stephanie asked the mind clone sitting with the siblings.

"And who are you?" Mischief retorted. "I've never seen you around. You are one ugly personality aspect!"

"Show some respect!" Commander snapped. "That happens to be Us you're speaking to!"

"And I'm NOT ugly!" Stephanie shouted, giving her clone a rude gesture. "As for you two…" She whirled around to face the Androids, fixing them with a scary look. "What the hell do you think you're doing in my head?"

"Having some fun," Seventeen replied.

"I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SCREW AROUND WITH MY BRAIN!" Stephanie screamed at the top of her lungs. Her clones winced at the shrillness of her voice, but Seventeen and Eighteen seemed mostly unaffected. "How did you even manage to get in here, anyway?" she asked in a slightly softer voice. "You're in the wrong fandom, for one, and ya'll didn't have any telepathic or mind control abilities in the actual series. At least, I don't think…"

"The Seventeen and Eighteen you are familiar with didn't," Eighteen answered. "Gero decided to make identical copies of them, but with different features. So, here we are."

"That doesn't explain why you're in the Yu Yu Hakusho fandom."

"And we won't tell you," Seventeen smirked, "unless you can beat us in a fight."

"How about I just expel you from my head and let the Reikai Tantei do it?" Stephanie asked nervously. Fighting the Androids was not something she'd planned on.

"The only way to get rid of us is to knock us unconscious," Seventeen smiled almost charmingly at her. "If you don't think you can do that, well, we'll continue to control your mind and actions."

Stephanie gulped nervously, and looked helplessly at her allies. "This is definitely not what I had in mind."


	8. Inside Her Mind

**Well, here's my update for the month. Enjoy. **

* * *

  


Kurama cautiously approached the large oak. He could clearly sense Hiei's ki in it, flared in anger. It was a warning to stay the hell away if he wanted to keep his head.

"Hiei?" the kitsune called nervously. Kurama was Hiei's best friend, but not even he could predict Hiei's actions when he was in this kind of mood.

"Only you would dare follow me, fox." Glittering red eyes glared down at the redhead, watching him carefully.

"Stephanie has slipped into a coma," Kurama stated, his eyes managing to find and look directly into the irate fire demon's. With the swish of a cloak, Hiei was standing before the fox.

"And that means what to me?"

"Koenma wants you to use your Jagan to pull her out of it."

"Well, well!" Hiei chuckled darkly. "This is certainly interesting news: the great Youko Kurama reduced to nothing more than a toddler's messenger boy!"

"I am _not _a messenger boy!" Kurama growled. Had he been in his fox form, his hackles would have been raised.

"Tell Koenma that I have no desire to help that child," Hiei continued, ignoring the menacing growls coming from his counterpart. "I did not have this Jagan implanted for his personal use."

"I will not," Kurama responded coldly. "You are perfectly capable of telling him yourself."

"I am going nowhere near the girl."

"Hiei did you really--" Kurama actually laughed outright, realizing exactly what was wrong with his friend. "I promise, nothing will ever change between us because of the words of a seventeen year old girl."

"I will not help her." Hiei stubbornly slipped back into the shadows, but did not flit away, as the fox expected. Instead, ruby red eyes glittered in the darkness.

"Koenma is angry," Kurama said, not expecting a response out of the other. "He is upset over what happened with Stephanie and Brianna."

"Hn. What happened to them was their own fault," Hiei grunted. "They were the ones who insisted on coming with us."

"If you come back with me to the temple, you can tell him that yourself."

The eyes narrowed to slits. "Give me one good reason," the small demon hissed.

"Honestly, I have no real reason for you to come," Kurama said truthfully. "I can't say that I trust her anymore than you do, but the girl practically hero worships the both of us. That must count for something."

There was silence, then the sound of leaves rustling, the unmistakable sign that Hiei had flitted off again. Kurama stared into the darkness thoughtfully, then turned and walked away.

0000000000

"Oh God, oh God, oh God…"

"SHUT UP!" Evil snapped, glaring daggers at the trembling Stephanie. All she did in response was to give her the finger and continue her terrified mantra. Seventeen and Eighteen waited impatiently for Stephanie to make her move.

"Are you going to do anything?" Seventeen finally asked, getting bored with the stand off.

"Would you give me a minute!" Stephanie screamed. She was almost to the point of hysteria. "I'm having a little freak out moment here! Fuckers…" She took a few deep breaths, then settled into a fighting stance. Her fingers curled into fists as she rushed at Seventeen wildly. Effortlessly, he fazed out of sight, only to appear beside her, chuckling softly.

"Remember your power, Us!" Warrior and Commander called from the sidelines.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Stephanie muttered. "Alright Trunks, come save me from the big bad Androids…" Her eyes started glowing, and a dark figure appeared some distance away. Her head snapped up and her face reflected her anger and confusion. "What is _he_ doing here?" she asked as the purple haired Saiyan warrior appeared beside her.

0000000000

Hiei was nothing but a blur as he raced through the forest, back to the temple. In seconds, he was beside Koenma. The future ruler of Spirit World started, not expecting Hiei back so soon.

"Hiei!" he exclaimed. "I didn't expect you for some time."

"I'm surprised you even expected me at all," the fire demon grunted. "Now, get out." Koenma was reluctant to leave, but one evil glare from the fire demon convinced him otherwise. Against his better judgment, the young deity turned and left, softly closing the door behind him.

Hiei turned to the comatose teenager. Stephanie's eyes showed no sign of recognition as he knelt before her limp body. He laid a hand on her forehead as he untied the ward keep his Jagan. When the Eye was fully open, he dipped into the girl's unconsciousness.

He emerged in a boulder strewn field of silver grass. Hiei raised an eyebrow at the five identical teenagers standing in the middle of the field. Two other teenagers were with them; they were polar opposites.

One seemed to be female. She was platinum blonde, where the other was male with jet black hair. Yet, despite the difference in looks, they still were alike.

A gentle breeze caressed Hiei's face, almost as if the girl's mind was probing him, curious as to what had invaded its space. An angry shout carried on the breeze, and Hiei noticed another person who had not been there before.

He wore baggy black pants, similar to the ones Hiei was usually clad in. Over a black tank top he wore a purple jacket, and he had a sword strapped to his back. The most striking thing about this young man, however, was his lavender hair.

Hiei strode purposefully toward the group; there was no longer a need to rush. He could now see the problem, and he was amazed it was a problem at all. The two strangers had virtually no ki to speak of.

0000000000

Stephanie waited impatiently for Hiei to come. The little bastard sure knew how to take his time when he felt like it! By the time the fire demon joined the group, her growing fear and irritation had made her sick to her stomach.

"Hn. Your mind is very complex," was the first thing Hiei said.

"A compliment? From Hiei?" Stephanie said in amazement, the unexpected statement actually shocking her out of her troubled emotions. "That's certainly something I would not expect from you."

"I advise you not to get used to it," Hiei responded darkly. "And don't expect me to help you with this!" Stephanie scowled at the demon, which had absolutely no effect on him. She was rather disappointed; she'd been working on that look.

"Then get out; I don't need you," she muttered, pointedly turning her attention away from Hiei and back to Trunks, who had been waiting patiently for his orders. "Alright, I need you to knock those two unconscious for me," Stephanie commanded, pointing at the Androids. "I would rather you not kill them; there are questions I and probably Koenma want to ask them."

Imaginary Trunks nodded, and abruptly transformed to Super Saiyan. He charged at Seventeen, who easily blocked his attacks, cackling. While this was going on, Warrior and the Commander had managed to detain Mischief. She wasn't coming quietly, either. She kicked and bit at her captors, doing everything she possibly could to free herself.

"Hang on guys, I got it," Stephanie said, her eyes beginning to glow again. A few minutes later, Mischief was wrapped from head to toe in duct tape. She smirked in satisfaction then returned to watching the fight.

Trunks was losing.

Blood streamed from his nose and various cuts on his body. He had long since lost his shirt, and his jacket lay in tatters on the ground next to him. The half-Saiyan warrior was nearly bent over in exhaustion.

"God it hurts just watching this," Stephanie muttered as the image disappeared. "Hiei!" She turned to the little demon, who she'd been ignoring. "Make yourself useful and—" She froze, staring wide-eyed at what Hiei was holding.

It was a light pink folder. On it, written in flowing letters, was the word "Memories". Hiei was examining every paper in that folder. Stephanie shrieked in anger, snatching at the folder, only to grab at nothing. The demon (and the title was very appropriate at this moment, Stephanie thought) flitted away to stand on a boulder, still reading Stephanie's memories.

"Damn it!" she shouted. "That's private! Give it BACK!"

"Pay attention to your fight," Hiei barked, not even bothering to look up from his reading.

Stephanie yelped, moving frantically out of the way of Seventeen's attack. The Android laughed evilly, catching the girl in a chokehold. Stephanie struggled against Seventeen's hold, but to no avail. Her struggles became weaker, and black spots danced along the edge of her vision as it became more difficult to breathe. She vaguely wondered why it was she even had to breathe, being an image of herself created by her very own brain, when she was dropped gracelessly to the ground.

Hiei and Warrior both threw the punches that caused Seventeen to drop his victim. Stephanie squinted up at the fire demon. "I thought you weren't gonna help me…" she mumbled.

"I haven't found the answer I'm looking for yet," Hiei growled. He turned back to Seventeen, and both became mere blurs. Warrior could do nothing, except step back and watch in amazement. Soon, Seventeen hit the ground, unconscious. Just as he said, his body flickered in and out of sight, and was gone.

Hiei whirled around to face Eighteen menacingly. The blonde merely yawned and glared back. "Well?" he asked.

"Well, what?" Eighteen smirked slightly, amused at Hiei's hostility. "I don't have the same sense of fun as my brother. I'm comfortable right here."

Hiei glared at her for a few moments, then abruptly turned to Stephanie. She still lay on her side, talking to Warrior and the Commander. "See that you stay that way," he ordered over his shoulder, then approached Stephanie and her personalities.

"Why?"

Stephanie stared blankly at Hiei. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly. She sat up, crossing her legs, and regarded Hiei curiously.

"Look, you ignorant child, I am no hero!" he shouted, grabbing the front of her shirt. He was satisfied to see a tiny flicker of fear race through her eyes, but it was quickly replaced with rage.

"Let go," Stephanie ordered quietly. When Hiei didn't immediately release her shirt, she slapped his fist away and stood up to tower over him. "You're very rude." The seventeen year old took a menacing step forward, and Hiei found himself backing away from the enraged teenager.

"You come in here uninvited, for one thing, then you go looking through all my memories! There are some things I'd rather people _not _know about me, thank you very much!" Hiei's eyes grew wide; somehow, the girl had power! It was only in her mind, but with her conscious self there, she could use it! "I'm tired of your bull shit! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!"

A Hiei-sized black mass appeared behind the startled fire demon, which Stephanie promptly shoved him into. Warrior and the Commander stared wide-eyed at Stephanie. Behind them, Eighteen smirked, actually amused by the outburst.

"You can get out too, Eighteen," Stephanie growled lowly, sounding almost demonic herself.

"You don't need to tell me a second time!" Eighteen chuckled. "Way to stick up for yourself, kid." With that last bit of unexpected praise, the blonde Android executed a complicated looking twirl. A flash of bright light and a small pop later, Eighteen was gone.


	9. A New House And An Unpleasant Surprise

**Sorry this thing's so late. But, the good news is, it's long! Ten freaking pages on Word! My fingers hurt now... **

**Phantom: That's what you get for typing the whole thing in one sitting with a sore wrist.**

**I suppose you're right... In other news, I dyed my hair! It's green now! I'm enjoying the shocked looks on people's faces when they see innocent little Stephanie with her new punk look. Mwahaha!**

**Phantom: You were never innocent.**

**No, but for some reason people seem to think I am. Here's a clue for you: Quiet people are not always shy! We're usually making fun of other people in our head, or contemplating how to take over the world...**

**Phantom: Keep talking like that and you'll have the CIA after you. **

**Bring 'em on! I'm an anime fan-girl, I have practically no money, how much damage can I do?**

**I apologize for my rambling. Here's the chappie!**

* * *

Hiei shot up from his slumped position, his ruby eyes wide. The girl actually had power! It was only in her mind, trapped by the physics of her world more likely than not, but it was still power! How had all that creative energy built up?

Seventeen was curled up in a corner of the room, Hiei discovered after instinctively performing a quick scan of the room. Odd. The Android could transform his physical body into thought matter… Logic dictated that the other could do the same. Just as the thought crossed his mind, Eighteen appeared in front of him, smirking.

Glaring daggers at the Android, Hiei reached for his katana. Eighteen ignored him and walked the short distance to Seventeen's corner. She quickly checked his vital signs, muttering under her breath. "He's not going to wake up anytime soon," she mumbled. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she grabbed her twin's wrist, hefting him over her shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going?" Hiei's cold voice asked as Eighteen slowly turned around. He stood in front of the door, sword drawn and pointed right at her. "I have informed Kurama that the girl's mind is free. Koenma will be here shortly."

"Why do you care if I leave?" Eighteen retorted. "I though you didn't like the little twerp!" Hiei's gaze did not falter; in fact, it seemed to intensify.

"I am not required to explain myself to _you_," he spat. The two stayed frozen in their stalemate for what seemed like an eternity, until Koenma and Botan finally arrived.

"Stand down Hiei," Koenma ordered, his eyes darting between Eighteen and Stephanie, who had yet to awaken. Her eyes, at least, had closed, meaning that her body was no longer under outside control.

"Stand _down_ Hiei!" Koenma commanded more insistently when he saw that the fire demon had yet to lower his weapon.

"She is still a threat." Eighteen's eyes widened. Somehow the little man knew! She knew for a fact that her ki could not be sensed; she had seen the proof of that firsthand. It was impossible for him to know her secret. Unless…

"When you read the girl's memories," Eighteen said in wonder. "You didn't do it just to piss her off."

"You read her memories?!" Koenma exclaimed, glaring.

"It was necessary," Hiei replied curtly, and Eighteen continued her deductions.

"You were trying to find a connection between us, weren't you?" Eighteen smirked, impressed that the fire demon had unearthed her secret. "I guess you're not as dumb as I first thought," she teased. "It's true that we chose Stephanie as a host because she already knew about us. But," her teasing expression changed to a more defiant one, "that bit of knowledge will not stop me from leaving."

As quickly as she could with Seventeen's full weight to hinder her, Eighteen dashed to the window, which had remained unguarded during the whole conversation. A bolt of electricity jumped at her hand as she reached to undo the latch. She hissed in pain and turned to glare at Koenma. "Let me go," she said in a low voice.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Koenma said casually. "You and your companion are under arrest." He snapped his fingers, and the Androids were bound in bands of glowing energy. "Botan, if you would?"

The ferry girl immediately summoned her oar and gathered her captives. "Right," she said curtly, then vanished.

0000000000

Stephanie awoke to soft voices and a sharp pain between her eyes. She moaned and rolled over, burying her head into the pillow to block out the light. Her headache lessoned.

The voices instantly silenced, and Stephanie became aware of a small hand rubbing over her back. "How are you feeling?" Datha's high voice asked softly. Stephanie mumbled her reply into the pillow. Datha smiled at the answer; Stephanie was definitely back to being herself. "She says she's got 'one bitch of a headache,'" the petite girl informed the rest of the room.

Brianna and Kimberly gaped at Datha. "Did you just say bitch?" Brianna asked in shock. Datha nodded, smiling charmingly. "But you never cuss!" On the futon, Stephanie winced at Brianna's raised voice. "Oops! Sorry," she apologized, lowering her voice this time.

An awkward silence ensued.

"Anyway," Datha laughed quietly, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "What does it matter? It's not like this reality actually exists, right?"

Stephanie shrugged, rolling over to chance the light, and so she could see who she was talking to. She glared in the general direction of the window, until Kimberly got up and closed the curtains for her. She smiled gratefully at her friend then looked around the room. "Where's Mandi?" she asked.

"She wore herself out yelling at Kuwabara," Brianna answered. "She's asleep on the couch.

"What did he do?"

"We have no idea," Kimberly answered this time, smirking.

The four girls chatted amicably for a long while. The talked until Mandi had risen from her nap and wandered in to join them, lying across Brianna's and Stephanie's laps. They all giggled at this, and continued their conversation. Soon, Kuwabara came to fetch them for supper.

To Stephanie's evident surprise, Koenma was still there, seated at the head of one of the two large dining tables. Another card table was shoved into the corner.

"Mini-Me, you're still here!" Stephanie shouted from across the surprisingly large dining room.

Koenma sputtered, as Yusuke and Kuwabara dissolved into hysterical giggles. The rest of the room, however, gave her disturbed looks.

"Uh, did I say that out loud?" Stephanie blushed and stepped behind Mandi to avoid the stares. The pointlessness of hiding behind the shorter girl was lost on her.

The five girls slowly made their way to the table in the corner, feeling somewhat like outsiders. They knew as little of these people as they did of them, and it was disconcerting. Hiei's glares in particular were unsettling. The only one of them who really felt at home with the anime characters was Stephanie, but that was because she was a fan of the show and felt like she already knew them.

Seeing that there were only four chairs placed at their table of choice, Stephanie paused to grab a chair from one of the larger ones. A bulky hand resting on her shoulder prevented her from rejoining her friends.

"Koenma says you're supposed to sit with us," the owner of the hand said.

Stephanie looked up at Kuwabara and sighed. "Fine," she mumbled, replacing the chair. "I'll see you guys later," she called to her friends. "I think Koenma wants to talk to me."

0000000000

Stephanie proved to be an amusing table mate for the majority of the Spirit Detective team. Hiei and Koenma, however, found her antics childish and irritating.

"So how do you use these again?"

Kurama smiled patiently, showing her for the fifth time in as many minutes how to hold her chopsticks. "It's really not hard," he explained, reaching across the table to adjust her grip. "Your fingers just have to get used to that position."

Stephanie let out a frustrated sigh when she once again dropped her food. "Screw this!" She grabbed the eating utensil in her fist and stabbed the offending piece of meat until it stuck on the end. She popped the tasty morsel in her mouth, giving a satisfied belch. "Problem solved!"

Kurama shook his head and continued eating, smiling slightly. Sure, the girl was likable enough, but he couldn't help but wonder if she could be trusted. In his experience, anyone with any knowledge about you that was not freely given was trouble. He couldn't shake the feeling that Stephanie and her friends had involved them in something dangerous, and his instincts were never wrong.

"I bet'cha can't beat my sis in a burping contest! Shizuru is the best," Kuwabara was boasting loudly to Stephanie, while Kurama was lost in his thoughts.

"Whatever!" Stephanie, playing her part well, rose to the challenge. "I'm the reigning Belching Queen at home! Ain't that right guys!" Stephanie shouted across the room at her friends.

Brianna and Mandi twisted around in their chairs. "Ain't what right?" Mandi yelled back, just as loud as Stephanie had been yelling.

"That I'm the Belching Queen!"

Mandi and Brianna looked at each other for a second then turned back to Stephanie, silly grins on their faces. "Hell yeah!" they simultaneously proclaimed. Brianna immediately turned back to her food, and Mandi followed her, after sending the 'rock on' sign in Stephanie's direction. Stephanie grinned and returned it, sticking out her tongue in classic rock star manner.

"Told ya." Stephanie smirked at Kuwabara, almost daring him to challenge her title.

"Save the festivities until later," Koenma cut in grumpily. "We have questions we want answered."

"Okay," Stephanie looked down the table at the miniature ruler, absent-mindedly chasing some vegetables around with her chopstick. "Ask away."

"Tell us all you know about the Dragonballs."

Stephanie smiled and launched into one of her favorite stories.

"The Dragonballs come from the anime show Dragonball, or Dragonball Z. They were created centuries ago by Kami, the guardian of Earth. When all seven of them are gathered together, they start pulsing with a yellow light and you can summon a dragon. The dragon grants you one wish, then the Dragonballs turn to stone and are scattered around the world. They can't be used again for another year."

"Does this dragon grant just any wish?" Kurama asked quietly.

"Um, yeah, I think so," Stephanie answered uncertainly. "As long as the wish doesn't surpass Kami's power. It can even bring back the dead!"

Koenma frowned, not liking what he was hearing at all. "That's a dangerous power. What if it were to fall into the wrong hands?"

Stephanie shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with all the questions. "I don't think Shenron grants wishes that were made with cruel intent," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring voice.

"Shenron?" Koenma asked.

"The dragon," Stephanie clarified.

Koenma sat with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'd like to thank you for all the information you've given us, but I've got one last question, then we can move on to another subject." He waited for Stephanie to give some sort of acknowledgment. When she nodded, he continued. "Can the Dragonballs be destroyed?"

Wide eyed, Stephanie slowly shook her head. In her mind, the Dragonballs were a good thing, especially when it was taken into account how much they helped Goku and his friends. Apparently though, Koenma had a very different opinion.

"Are we done yet?" Kuwabara complained loudly. Koenma nodded, giving the boy the go-ahead to do with Stephanie what he willed, which he promptly did. Kuwabara grabbed Stephanie's wrist and dragged her to Shizuru's table, ignoring her protests of "But I wasn't done eating!"

0000000000

Mandi whimpered in her sleep, unconsciously rubbing her distended belly. For some reason, her baby was more active at night, while she was usually exhausted from the day. Mandi's eyes snapped open when the brat gave a particularly vicious kick.

"My kidneys are not punching bags!" she hissed, poking the side of her belly. In response, the child kicked the area her finger was resting. Groaning, Mandi managed to pull herself into a sitting position. After several attempts at standing, she realized it wasn't happening without help. With a frustrated sigh, she rolled onto her hands and knees and crawled to Stephanie's futon, where she knew the mp3 player was.

Mandi desperately missed her big, soft bed with her fluffy pillows. The hard mattress on the floor did nothing for her back. Slowly, she made her way between her friends' bodies until she found Stephanie's. Despite the vastness of Genkai's temple complex, there was only one room available in the separate living space. Clearly, the old woman wasn't used to a great deal of people staying overnight.

Carefully, Mandi reached under Stephanie's pillow, groping around for her mp3 player. Music usually calmed the baby down. She had actually gotten into the habit of placing headphones over her swollen abdomen at night so she could sleep when normal people did. For the most part, it worked. Finding what she'd been looking for, Mandi slowly withdrew her hand. She really didn't want to wake Stephanie up. The last person who tried it got punched in the nose. Not a very fun experience.

Prize in hand, she made her way back to her own futon, which was beginning to look very inviting. She was about halfway there when the door quietly opened, revealing Yukina, who was coming to check up on the five teenagers. Silently, she hurried over to the pregnant girl and helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" the ice maiden whispered, aware that Mandi was the only one awake. Mandi nodded, smiling gratefully at Yukina. The demoness slowly led her to her futon, and gently lowered her onto it. "What exactly were you doing?" she asked in a scolding tone.

Tiredly, Mandi held up Stephanie's iPod. "My baby's more active at night," she answered. "Music usually calms him down."

"Oh! Can I feel?" Mandi nodded, and Yukina's hands were instantly running over her stomach. She was so tired; she didn't even notice that the ice maiden's hands were glowing in a soft white light. "How far along are you?" she asked quietly.

"Seven months," Mandi slurred. Her exhaustion was quickly catching up to her, and it seemed that the same went for the baby; his movements were getting slower and slower as Yukina gently ran her hands over Mandi's stomach. Soon, both were sleeping peacefully.

"There now," Yukina whispered. "You shouldn't be so hard on your mother. She's doing the best she can, considering the situation."

0000000000

The girls didn't get comfortable staying at Genkai's temple. The old woman, while she found the five teenage girls amusing (and a good source of cheap labor), was not made for entertaining people. "I'm not running a damn hotel," were her exact words. So Koenma negotiated with her, and it was agreed that the girls could stay for two weeks, and that was it. If a place could not be found for them by then, they would stay in Spirit World.

A week and a half passed, with the girls doing chores for Genkai and the boys coming by to check on them occasionally, before Koenma appeared at the temple complex. He was accompanied by Botan and all of the Spirit Detective team.

"Pack your things girls," he ordered. "Today you're moving out."

Obediently, all five of them dropped their gardening tools and went inside. When their backs had turned, Kurama immediately sent out his ki, fixing the damage done to Genkai's garden. Clearly, having the girls tend the flower beds was a ploy to get them out of her hair.

"If I may, where will they be staying?" Kurama asked absently, concentrating mostly on healing the garden.

"Later Kurama," Koenma replied. "The girls are going to be asking that question, and I don't like to repeat myself." Kurama shrugged, giving the garden his complete attention.

Not five minutes later, Stephanie and Brianna stormed out of the temple. They each grabbed the startled boys by the collars of their shirts and dragged them inside. "At least one of you is helping Mandi!" Brianna yelled. "She's fucking _pregnant_, she can't carry shit!"

"Besides," Stephanie added in an only slightly calmer voice, "y'all are the ones who insisted on waiting 'til the last minute to tell us we're leaving, so the least you could do is help!"

The door was slammed shut, and the birds chirped cheerfully again. Botan stood where she was left, in shock. "Oh my," she breathed. "They certainly have tempers!"

Up in his tree, Hiei had trouble containing his laughter.

0000000000

The girls, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama all piled into the minivan Kurama's mother had thoughtfully provided. They told her that the five girls were foreign exchange students, and they'd been staying at the temple because their host family was having problems with their home.

"Mrs. Minamino!" Stephanie whined loudly. "Can you turn on the radio?" All five girls, plus Yusuke and Kuwabara jumped when very loud heavy metal rock music blared from the speakers. "Dude," Stephanie said almost reverently to Kurama, "your mom is _awesome_!"

The rest of the journey was uneventful; except when Mandi, in a fit of silliness, decided it would be fun to throw things at Kurama in the front seat. At first, it was indeed entertaining, until she hit Shiori in the back of the head. Everyone flew forward, as she slammed her foot down on the brake and threw the vehicle in park.

"I am cool with most things," she said in a deceptively calm voice. "Throwing things at the driver is something that will NEVER happen again! Or you all will walk the rest of the way. And that includes you too Shuichi," she added, seeing her son's grinning face.

Silence weighed heavily on the group while Shiori got the van moving again. No one knew what to say after that outburst, and Mandi, who was usually the one to break silences such as these, was feeling guilty for being the one to cause it.

"So," Yusuke started, growing tired of the discomfort, "how about them Cowboys?"

There were a few moments of confused silence, but the entire van quickly dissolved into giggles. "Thanks Yusuke," Shiori grinned in the rearview mirror at the smirking teenager.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the address Koenma had given them. The girls weren't very impressed, and neither was Shiori.

"Surely you're not all staying here, are you?" she asked uncertainly. The house was a tiny one; from the looks of it, there was barely enough room in it for three people, much less five. "And where is your host family?"

Just as she spoke the words, Botan and Koenma in his older form emerged from the small dwelling, looking and acting just like a real couple. Stephanie snorted softly, laughing at some inner joke. She was ignored as everyone began the tedious task of unloading everything. With everyone working together, all of the girls' stuff was put into its respective room.

The actual size of the house was quite surprising. There were two levels in the house, plus a basement. Walking into the house on the first floor, the first notable aspect was the openness of the home. The front door opened up into a smallish living room, lit mostly by the two floor-to-ceiling windows in the far corners. Placed between them was a wide plasma screen TV. In the left corner facing the left-hand wall was a computer desk, complete with the computer, at which Stephanie was overjoyed. She had been bored out of her mind without a computer to play on.

To the right was a hallway, which became a kitchen/dining room at the end. Each side of the hall had two doors. On the right were the laundry room and a bathroom; on the left, a small bedroom and the stairwell.

The stairs, like the living room, were very open, and lit mostly by windows and a skylight. To the right, the stair case went up to the second floor; to the left they went down to the basement.

The second floor had an airy feel to it. Again, windows were very prominent. At both ends of the hallway were two big bay windows with window seats. Both were perfect places to sit and think. The upstairs only had two bedrooms and one bathroom.

The basement, as is typical in most basements, lacked the openness of the rest of the house. There was only one room, but it was about the size of the living room upstairs, so it could easily fit two people in it. There was also a short hallway, ending in a very small bathroom. Stephanie and Brianna lay claim to the basement room immediately. Mandi was given the room on the first floor, so she wouldn't have to climb up and down the stairs everyday, leaving Kimberly and Datha the rooms upstairs.

Shiori left soon after everything had been sorted out; Kurama declined to go with her, saying he could just as easily walk home. After all, he reasoned, the girls' new house was merely a block from his. Koenma had done that purposefully. He suspected, as did Kurama, that while the girls' intents were completely innocent, there was something more malicious in the works. He wanted at least one of the Reikai Tantei to be able to check on them frequently, while also giving them their space and independence. Kurama, being the most mature of the four, was the obvious choice.

Koenma strolled through the house, making sure everyone was settled in. Downstairs, once Stephanie's side of the room was showing some semblance of organization, she dashed up the steps for some quality time with You Tube. Brianna stayed to decorate. Mandi was sitting on the floor in the living room with Stephanie, propped up by several pillows and watching the Japanese version of Grey's Anatomy. Yusuke and Kuwabara were left with the task of setting up her room. That left Kimberly's and Datha's whereabouts unknown. A little concerned, Koenma went upstairs to peak into their rooms; both were napping. He left them alone.

Kurama and Hiei were in the kitchen cooking dinner. Or rather, Kurama was cooking while Hiei sat around bored, because Koenma wouldn't let him leave yet. He had an announcement to make, and he wanted the whole gang to be present when he made it.

When dinner was ready, they all congregated in the living room. The kitchen was far too small for them all. Everyone sat comfortably in a circle on the floor, except for Stephanie. She was too engrossed in her music videos to care much about anything else. She sat at the computer desk, staring at the monitor and absent-mindedly shoveling food in her open mouth.

When everyone was finished eating, Koenma stood and cleared his throat. He waited until he had the group's full attention; he had to wait awhile for Stephanie. She crossly exited her program and turned in her chair to face the miniature ruler, frowning. "What do you want Mini-Me?" she pouted.

Koenma scowled at the nickname, but said nothing about it. The name had stuck ever since she had used it that first night she'd been awake after her temporary coma. Yusuke and Kuwabara used it every chance they got; even Hiei had call him that on occasion! _'And if anyone deserves the name Mini-Me it's Hiei,'_ Koenma thought sourly.

"Girls, I have enrolled you in Meiou with Kurama," he said, getting straight to the point. "You'll be starting next week."

The five teenagers stared at Koenma with rage steadily growing on their faces. Finally, Mandi stood as quickly as she could with her bulky stomach and advanced on the startled demi-god.

"BASTARD!" she, Stephanie, and Brianna shouted simultaneously.

* * *

**Crap that took awhile. Did I mention my fingers hurt? **

**Phantom: You may have mentioned it.**

**I am a poor college student with no money. Good reviews take away the sting of being poor. **


	10. The Unnamed Chapter

**Sorry this is so late. Writing this chapter was like pulling out teeth. Again, mostly filler, but there is one plotful scene. This fic is gonna slow down a little. The bad guys don't really do anything until the second semester, and I've probably said too much.

* * *

**

Mandi slowly advanced on Koenma. "We're not going to school," she hissed very decisively. Her four friends nodded in agreement. They all were quite displeased, but Kimberly and Datha were the only two out of the five that didn't seem ready for a fight. Stephanie and Brianna had come out to flank Mandi, watching the Tantei suspiciously.

"This is our summer break," Mandi continued, pausing to acknowledge her body guards with a nod. "We just finished our finals, and with this crap," she gestured around the room, though she was referring to their situation in general, "we don't need the added stress!"

Koenma sighed and rubbed his forehead. He hadn't expected quite this much resistance. A little whining, maybe, but not a full-blown temper tantrum! "I understand your arguments, especially coming from your point of view Mandi, but it's a necessary precaution," Koenma said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. He only fueled their suspicion.

"Precaution for what?" Stephanie asked in a voice that promised violence for Koenma if his answer wasn't satisfactory.

"There's a possibility that I can't get you back to your own reality," Koenma said softly. "If that happens, you will need to be integrated into this society…"

"What do you mean you might not be able to get us back?" Datha asked, a hint of fear creeping into her voice. The standing trio glowered at the underworld prince.

"We have _families_," Kimberly added, now very upset. "What about them?"

"I don't know," Koenma answered regretfully. "Your reality is not under my jurisdiction. The portal that brought you all here should never have even existed. I don't know if it can be duplicated."

"Look on the bright side," Yusuke said cheerfully in an attempt to brighten the gloomy mood. "At least you get to hang around Kurama everyday."

"If we hang with Foxy, then we also get to hang around his fan girls," Stephanie said dully. "And if fan fiction is right, Kurama's fan girls are stupid, preppy, and snobbish… and I'll probably have a lot of fun humiliating and scaring them," she finished with a smirk and a little cackle.

"There's the spirit!" Koenma said encouragingly. His statement was met with five unhappy stares. "Yes, well," he stumbled back nervously. The trio was still standing with their fists clenched, and Kimberly looked ready to join them. "Would you look at the time! I really should be getting back; got a lot of work you know!" With a poof of smoke, Koenma was gone.

"I should be leaving as well," Kurama murmured, getting up from his seated position. "Mother will be getting worried. My cell phone number is on the kitchen table. Please try to call only in the case of an emergency."

"Okay," the five girls chorused as the kitsune walked out the door. Hiei followed him without a word.

"Awww!" Stephanie squealed. "Hiei followed him like a little puppy! He prob'ly wants to play," she said with a knowing wink at Brianna, who grinned wickedly back.

Kuwabara made a disgusted face at their expressions. "I don't think I wanna know what that means."

"It means he wants to stick his -" Mandi started, but Yusuke cut in before she could finish.

"Time to go!" the Spirit Detective shouted, grabbing his friend's arm and dragging him out the front door. The girls' laughter followed them out.

0000000000

Dr. Gero flew backwards and hit the wall with a sickening crunch. He slid slowly to the floor and slumped against the wall, watching his attacker fearfully. The dark, hooded figure glided toward the old scientist, its eyes gleaming an angry red beneath the hood.

"Your robot army has failed," it said in its ethereal mental speech. "Reikai has the Dragonballs and your two generals! The entire mission is compromised, and you are not even close to fixing the portals. I regret restoring your life. Maybe I should correct that mistake now!"

"M-master!" Gero stammered, scrambling forward to bow before the evil creature. "Have mercy! I'll put my workers right to it. And Seventeen and Eighteen merely had a few circuits loose. If you allow me to leave the barrier for a few seconds with the remote control, I can have them back under control and here within a few days with the Dragonballs! Please, have mercy!"

"Be silent!" the creature hissed. "I have no intention to kill you yet; your information is far too valuable. But know this: if your generals have not returned after two weeks have passed, you will be punished. Now, be out of my sight!" it snarled, and Dr. Gero nearly ran out of the room in relief.

0000000000

"I hate skirts," Stephanie and Brianna complained simultaneously. Their high school orientation was to begin in about half an hour, and those two were the last to be up. Kurama and the others waited patiently upstairs for them to get ready; the fox had walked over to pick them up fifteen minutes prior, after calling them to make sure the five girls were up, bringing with him their new school uniforms. Where he got them, he refused to tell.

Kurama had come downstairs with the uniforms to find Stephanie and Brianna still fast asleep, the latter curled up in a little ball on the bed with drool leaking from her mouth and the former laying spread-eagled on her back hugging a baseball bat close to her chest. The redheaded fox raised an eyebrow at Stephanie, and began the unenviable task of waking the two girls up. Wisely, he started with Brianna. It took awhile; after a few minutes of shaking her relentlessly and calling her name, Brianna groggily opened her eyes and stared at Kurama.

"What d'ya wan'?" she slurred at him.

"You need to get up," Kurama answered patiently. "Orientation begins in forty five minutes." Brianna nodded and rolled out of the bed gracelessly, stumbling into the bathroom and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Kurama sighed and turned to the girl still sleeping. He wasn't quite sure _why_ she was sleeping with a baseball bat, or even where she'd gotten it, but it posed a problem. He couldn't get near her, for fear that she'd hit him with the thing, but she needed to be woken up. He was reaching into his hair to grow a vine to poke her awake with (a nonlethal vine of course) when he caught sight of a broom handle leaning against the wall near the door . '_That'll work,_' he thought, grabbing the thing. He gently prodded Stephanie's side; she rolled over away from Kurama with a low grunt. Not to be deterred, Kurama poked her again. And again. And again. Kurama continued to poke Stephanie with the broom handle until finally…

"CUT IT OUT ALREADY!" Stephanie shouted, jumping up to stand on the bed and pointing her bat at the offender. "What the hell do you want Kurama?" she snarled.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" Kurama asked, amused. "Orientation starts in a little over a half hour, and you need to get ready." Kurama paused, eyeing the bat thoughtfully. "Why were you sleeping with a baseball bat?"

"There was a roach," Stephanie replied, a small note of insecurity creeping into her voice. "Me and Brianna couldn't kill it and it got away. The bat was for if it came back."

Kurama stared at her, nonplussed. "I'll go upstairs and wait with the others, now," he said, deciding not to comment on Stephanie's weirdness, as Brianna was emerging from the bathroom. "I left your uniforms hanging on the door. Please try to hurry."

Kurama left, shutting the door firmly behind him. The girls quickly clothed themselves, glaring distastefully at themselves in the mirror. "You don't suppose there's a way to make this uniform look a little less… _uniform_?" Stephanie asked Brianna bleakly, wincing at her own lame but unintended pun.

"There's that stuff we bought at the mall when we first came to this dimension…" Brianna trailed off, grinning at Stephanie with a mischievous glint in her eye. Stephanie nodded in understanding, an obnoxious smirk spreading across her lips.

0000000000

Kurama and the rest of the girls were a little shocked when Stephanie and Brianna came upstairs. While they had worn the school uniform with minimal complaint, they had… modified it to fit their standards. Under their red skirts they both wore black leggings, and both wore messily knotted ties; Stephanie's was plain black, while Brianna's was red with frogs printed on it. Plain black bracelets were pushed up Brianna's arm, and Stephanie wore a dark red wrist band on each wrist. They were both wearing Converse shoes on their feet, and Stephanie wore a black bandana with a purple design on her head.

Kurama stared at them, not quite sure what to say. Mandi, however, burst into laughter. It started as a low chuckle, then escalated from there. Mandi doubled over, and had to sit down. "Nice look guys," she said when she had finally calmed down.

"Thanks!" Stephanie beamed at her.

"Please tell me you are not going to make this a daily occurrence?" Kurama asked in apprehension. Brianna grinned mischievously at him. "You are." The looks on both of their faces confirmed it, and the look on Mandi's face said that she would probably join in. "Girls, you are supposed to be keeping a _low_ profile! Not only will those outfits get you in trouble in school, but…"

Kurama's lecture was ignored by the group's transgressors as they left the house. They paused to let Kurama lock the door, and by Mandi's direction, she, Stephanie, and Brianna linked their arms and skipped down the sidewalk in the direction they thought the school was in, singing an obnoxious song. Kimberly and Datha stayed to wait for Kurama, each watching with different expressions; Kimberly with a disapproving scowl and Datha with suppressed amusement.

"Do they even realize they're going the wrong direction?" Kurama asked softly as he came up to them.

"Should we go get them?" Datha asked, looking up at the fox with an innocent expression.

"Nah," Kurama replied, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "That way's a dead end, and the school is just down this road. They can figure it out."

As they turned to go to school, someone snickered. It sounded suspiciously like Kimberly.

0000000000

Stephanie's first instinct when they finally caught up to the rest of their group was to turn tail and run. The school was huge, but despite its hugeness the front lawn seemed overrun with _freshmen_. Stupid, annoying, hyperactive, over excitable _freshmen._

Stephanie hated freshmen.

The fact that many of her guy friends in her own dimension were freshmen didn't make it through her thought process.

"I can guide you to the auditorium," Kurama said softly, "which is where you'll meet anyway. After that, I'll have to leave you. We'll meet back at the gate when the event is over, and if you haven't made a mess of things, I'll take you out for ice cream," he added, his eyes glinting merrily.

Stephanie and Mandi glanced at each other, grinning at some inside joke. "We'll be sure to stay away from the chemistry building then," Mandi laughed.

Kurama tactfully ignored that statement. "Shall we?" he asked, stepping forward into the throng of people.

"And remember to hold hands so we don't get lost," Stephanie jibed, grinning pointedly down at Datha. The small girl snorted, thumping her friend on the arm. "Awww!" Stephanie pouted. "You're no fun!"

0000000000

"The school's garden plants are not to be switched with carnivorous ones…"

Brianna snorted quietly, hoping she hadn't attracted the principal's attention. With a rule that ridiculously specific, you knew _somebody_ had to have done something that ended in either disaster or a damn funny story.

The principal, a rather young woman with a manner reminiscent of one of their old teachers from their own dimension, Brianna thought, looked up, hearing Brianna's amused snort. "Ah, yes," she said, glad, it seemed, to have an excuse to interrupt her lecture on school rules. "There is an interesting story behind that…" A large, overbearing looking man glowered at the young woman, and she quickly continued, "But I don't have the time to share it with you. If you want though, I'll be available to share it with any who want to hear it after the assembly. So! Back to the exciting school rules!

"The brewing or production of alcoholic beverages on campus is strictly forbidden, as is the distribution of said alcoholic beverages under the label of 'Gatorade'…"

Brianna smiled at the second oddly specific school rule, wondering what kind of high school this was. Wasn't this supposed to be for honors students!? The goody two-shoed brats that always studied and never got in trouble!? Meh. Brianna never was a "good" student. Sure, she made passing grades, but she never met the standard her four friends had managed to. Stephanie kept telling her that if she actually applied herself she'd do better. Not that Brianna cared anyway. All that crap the teachers spouted about "preparation for the real world" was a load of bull anyway. School did nothing to help prepare for the Real World; Real Life helped prepare for the Real World.

Brianna was pulled from her thoughts on life when the principal finished listing the school rules and handed the mike over to the large man.

"My name is Kata Kiyaku," he said in what he apparently thought was a friendly tone of voice. Brianna thought he sounded more condescending than anything. "I am the vice principal here at Meiyou High, and I wish you all a successful school year." Brianna rolled her eyes.

"You have been assigned to a tour guide," he gestured at the smiling cheer squad standing behind him, "based on the first letter of your last name. Our five foreign exchange students, however, get a tour guide all to themselves."

At this point, a sparkly, overly peppy girl with her hair dyed blonde stepped forward, performing a high kick meant to show off her shapely legs. The boys in the audience drooled. "Sakura here will be your guide."

Reluctantly, the five friends stood and made to follow the girl out. As they passed the stage, however, Kiyaku discreetly grabbed Stephanie's and Brianna's arms. "Before you start, I want to see the both of you in my office," he said, looming over the girls. Brianna raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Was he really trying to intimidate them? A quick glance at her friend told Brianna that Stephanie was even less amused; she looked downright irritated. Better if Brianna spoke for them, then.

"Of course, Mr. Kiyaku," she said amiable, as she tugged on Stephanie's arm, who looked ready to say something nasty. She subtly kicked her friend lightly; Stephanie gave her an affronted look, but otherwise kept her mouth shut.

"My office is just down the hall," Kiyaku directed, nodding at them in obvious dismissal. They hurried to catch up with their group.

0000000000

Kata Kiyaku was a tall, fat man, his gut spilling over the waistband of his too-tight khaki pants. He had a permanent scowl plastered on his chubby face, his beady little black eyes glaring suspiciously at any and all who crossed him. His posture was nearly always reminiscent of the bad cop questioning a suspect. Put together, this made for a rather intimidating person, all of which he was employing quite effectively on the two American girls before him.

Or, at least he was trying to.

Stephanie found Kiyaku's behavior rather irritating. She couldn't _stand_ people like that! In her own dimension, she had waged war against people just like this idiot. As such, it was her duty to humiliate, anger, and mess with this man's head. She looked forward to it.

Kiyaku continued to stand behind his desk, towering over Stephanie and Brianna and glaring. Stephanie glared defiantly back, the corner of her mouth twitching upward in a smirk. Finally, Kiyaku spoke.

"What possessed you two to… deface you uniforms today?" he asked, his disapproval seeping into his voice.

Stephanie suppressed a chuckle at his choice of words. Deface? More like improve! The guy that designed these clothes really had boring taste, much less any sense of individuality! "Sir, school uniforms are against our religion," Stephanie answered before Brianna could get a word in. At Kiyaku's confused look, she added, "Nonconformity is our religion."

The man blinked a few times. "That rather defeats the purpose of nonconformity, doesn't it?" he asked, giving them both a look that clearly said '_I'm not as stupid as you think so quite feeding me this crap_.' "Try again."

Stephanie grinned. This one was a smart one! Much more challenging than the idiots back home. Oh, she was going to enjoy this!

"Maybe," she shrugged. "Religion is a system of beliefs. It doesn't have to have a big following to be legit." Kiyaku gave her a disbelieving glare. Stephanie opened her mouth to protest, but Kiyaku interrupted her.

"We have rules for a reason, young ladies. We pride ourselves here at Meiyou in our strict enforcement of those rules."

Stephanie resisted rolling her eyes. Good God, this guy was a stiff! The least he could have done was give a real reason they couldn't modify their uniforms!

Stephanie was spared from pointing this out when a loud knock was heard at the door. Without waiting for an answer, the principal walked in, carefully balancing a giant stack of papers in one arm.

"Kata, could you help me go through these forms?" she asked, not noticing Stephanie and Brianna. "We need to make sure they're all up to date and stuff. Oh!" she exclaimed when she set her paperwork on the desk and saw the girls. "Cool outfits! Did you guys pick those out yourselves?"

After giving Kiyaku a smug look, Stephanie beamed at her. "Yes ma'am we did!" she said brightly. "We thought we'd start off the school year with a bang."

"I can understand that," she responded thoughtfully. "Well, I have no problem with it, as long as you don't do this on a regular school day." Kiyaku snorted, causing Stephanie to grin triumphantly at the man. "You two had better go," she continued, ignoring Kiyaku. "The rest of your group is waiting outside; they're being a little impatient if I do say so myself."

Stephanie nodded and grabbed her friend's wrist. "Come on, Bri," she said. "We better not keep them waiting. You know how Kimberly gets!"

0000000000

As it happened, it was not Kimberly who was getting impatient.

Mandi leaned heavily against the wall directly across from the vice principal's office, trying not to sigh. She was clearly having a mood swing, her lower back and feet were killing her, and Datha was giving her concerned looks. But it wasn't Datha's looks that bothered her as much as the looks that little miss priss Sakura was giving her. Sakura was giving her rather disdainful looks, mixed in with what looked like jealousy. Although, Mandi couldn't figure out why the cheerleader would be jealous of _her_. Being pregnant wasn't exactly fun. It made her want to never have sex again.

Well, maybe not never. But certainly not for a long, long time.

Mandi was relieved when Stephanie sashayed out the door a few minutes after the principal had gone in, dragging a subdued Brianna behind her. As soon as the door closed, though, she burst into giggles.

"Stephanie's made a new enemy, guys." And she looked positively thrilled about it. Mandi was beginning to question her friendship with her.

"Kiyaku seems to think he's a cop or something," Stephanie clarified. "Kind of reminds me of someone we all know and hate back home, right?"

Mandi rolled her eyes. Her back was really hurting, and she just wanted to get the stupid orientation crap over with so they could go back to their house so she could lie down. After Kurama bought them ice cream, of course.

"Yeah, Mr. Kiyaku can be a jerk sometimes, but he's a good guy," Sakura was saying brightly as she _finally _led them down the hall. "So anyway, as you can see, this is the main office area. You just saw the vice principal's office thanks to our two little trouble makers," Mandi could just _feel_ Stephanie beaming as they continued down the hall, "and the principal's, the secretary's, the counselors', and all the teachers' offices are here too. The cafeteria, the library the auditorium, and the gym are all on the first floor too. You saw the cafeteria and the library when you first came into this building, and you guys won't have to go to the gym since you're upperclassmen."

Sakura led them down another hall and opened a door, revealing a long, winding flight of stairs. Mandi stopped dead in her tracks. "Please tell me you've got elevators," she whined when the cheerleader gave her a peculiar look.

"Nope!" Sakura said entirely too cheerfully. "Those are down at the moment."

Mandi gave frustrated moan, and Stephanie and Brianna were instantly at her side, helping to support her. Mandi gave them a small smile. While their protectiveness got annoying at times, it was sometimes good to know you've got friends when the rest of the world forsakes you.

0000000000

By the end of the tour, not only did Mandi's back hurt, but her feet, head, and stomach hurt as well. Sakura clearly had some sort of grudge against Mandi, but she didn't seem willing to confide, or even openly confront her about it. Not to mention, her very naughty baby had responded to its mother's frustration and had been beating the crud out of Mandi's liver. The physical and mental abuse, combined with having to climb several flights of stairs in six different buildings, left Mandi in a foul mood.

Only the thought of a nice vanilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles kept her from ordering Stephanie and Brianna to gouge the cheerleader's eyes out.

"Now all that's left is the ending speech, and we can go home," Kimberly reminded in a reassuring tone of voice.

"Don't forget, Fox Boy was going to get us ice cream!" Stephanie exclaimed, waggling her finger in Kimberly's face. Kimberly huffed and turned her head away.

"Who's Fox Boy?" Sakura asked suspiciously as they crossed the lawn to the main building.

"You probably know him as Shuichi Minamino," Brianna answered with a shrug. "We met him over the summer. He lives just a few blocks from us."

"I knew it!" the fake blonde exploded, startling all five of the American girls. "Shuichi's your little brat's father, isn't he!?" Sakura pointed accusingly at Mandi. "That's why he was hanging around you nerds earlier this morning! You little whore!"

Mandi was stunned speechless. But that quickly turned to anger, and with it came her voice. "You _really_ think Shuichi got me pregnant?" she asked softly, causing her four friends to back away uneasily. "Babe, I'm _seven months_ pregnant. I've barely known him for a _month._ Even if I did get pregnant by him, I would not be showing this much! And you think that just because we're friends that we're having sex!? Maybe, just maybe, if you pull hard enough your head will pop out of your ass!" By the time Mandi was done, she was shouting. Wisely, her friends stayed quiet.

With a frustrated scream, Mandi stormed away. Stephanie and Brianna immediately scurried after her, hovering worriedly over their pregnant friend. Datha and Kimberly gave Sakura a glare and took off at a slower pace; reeling at the horribly unrealistic accusation Sakura had thrown.

* * *

**Not really liking the ending. But I just wanted to get this chapter over with so I could move on.**

**Footnotes:**

**When you combine Kata Kiyaku's first and last names, it means "bad guy" in Japanese. I was actually looking for a word for "family guy," but this one amused me.  
**


	11. Espionage

**Sorry this took so long. I lost all my planning for this story, so I had to rewrite the plot from scratch. It was a pain in the ass. **

**I cannot wait for this story to pick up. It should start coming faster in a couple of chapters; that's where all the action is.

* * *

**

Dr. Gero walked boldly down the dark tunnel, clutching a small remote control tightly in his fist. While on the outside the elderly scientist seemed confident, on the inside he was a nervous wreck. The likelihood of Seventeen and Eighteen acknowledging his summons, much less even being in a position to respond, was little to none. While it was possible that the Master wouldn't _kill_ him, the demon could certainly think of ways to make him he wish he _had_!

Dr. Gero reached the end of the secret corridor under the City of Ghosts and Apparitions that led outside the magical barrier, and pushed the trapdoor open with shaking hands. Taking a deep breath and praying to every god and deity he could think of that the Androids would answer, he firmly pressed the button, sending a signal across worlds that, the doctor hoped, would be impossible to ignore.

0000000000

Seventeen sat, leaned casually against the wall of the Reikai prison cell he shared with Eighteen. He shared a pointed look with his sister before he spoke.

"Do you think we should go?"

Eighteen snorted. "Do you want to?" The cybernetic twins stared at each other for a moment, and the blonde slowly shook her head. "This place is warded. We couldn't answer the old bastard even if we wanted to."

Seventeen nodded and turned his head, content to simply stare into space.

The Androids remained motionless and silent for an indeterminate amount of time, before a hideous blue ogre came to take them from their cell. When they asked the ogre where they were being taken, he only answered that he wasn't allowed to say. The ogre led them into a large office; at the desk sat a little toddler.

"Ah, Seventeen and Eighteen," Koenma said when he spotted the two standing in the doorway. "Come in, come in!" The Androids took a few steps further into the room; both of them had their arms crossed sullenly, and they refused to sit in the seats Koenma gestured at. The miniature god narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the twins, and launched into his speech.

"You two are from a different dimension," he started. Both Androids rolled their eyes; as if they didn't already know that. "Therefore, I have very little authority over you. I'm in a bit of a predicament, you see. I can't really punish you, since neither of you are my subjects, and the girl whose mind you took over isn't a subject of mine either. And I can't exactly send you back to your own dimension, as I don't have the technology to create a portal between dimensions. That kind of technology isn't even supposed to _exist_.

"So, after thinking over the problem, I have decided to _ask_ you to be spies for me. I can't order you, but if you refuse, I'll be forced to lock you up again." Koenma stood on the desk, his gaze shifting between the two. "So, what is your decision, Seventeen and Eighteen?"

0000000000

It was a warm, pleasant afternoon that was perfect for ice cream; which was why Kurama had decided to take the girls out to the nearest ice cream parlor after their orientation to Meiou. In all honesty, they felt they deserved it. After all, they _did_ have to put up with an annoying vice principal with a ten foot pole stuck up his behind, and an even more annoying Shuichi fanatic cheerleader. In fact, some of the group felt that the fox owed them more than just ice cream for the horrors faced.

"Strip," Stephanie ordered. Her friends' eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, before they dissolved into giggles. Kurama nearly choked on his ice cream.

"_Excuse_ me?" he sputtered.

"You owe us big time for that crap you forced us into," Stephanie explained. "I want fan service, starting with you ripping off your clothes and dancing."

"Forced?" Kurama repeated.

"Oh! Don't forget him making out with Hiei!" Brianna added, her eyes lighting up with laughter.

"Hell, I'd join in, at that," Stephanie replied, smirking at the blushing faces of just about everyone at their table, Kurama's being the most pronounced.

"I should _not_ be listening to this!" Datha mumbled. Her face was nearly as red as the fox's. "That is horrible Stephanie."

"Should've thought about that before you decided to be friends with me, then," Stephanie declared. "Now you're stuck with me and my vulgarness."

"I think you mean vulgarity," Kurama corrected quietly.

"Hey! Did I ask you what I meant, Fox Boy? No, I didn't, so shut up! And I still expect to see you at least shirtless sometime today, Mister!"

"Okay, no more ice cream for Stephanie," Kimberly laughed, quickly grabbing her nearly empty bowl before her sugar-high friend could catch on.

"Awww!" Stephanie pouted, slouching in her seat and glaring at the table top.

"Was it really that bad?" Kurama asked, now that Stephanie had quieted down a little.

"Not really, if you ignore the fact that something crawled up the vice principal's butt, our tour guide accused Mandi of fucking around with you, and then Mandi having a mood swing," Brianna replied. "It was just fine, then."

Stephanie tapped her fingers against the table, staring at her confiscated ice cream forlornly.

"Just ignore Kiyaku," Kurama advised. "He's only bitter that a woman was hired as principal and not him." Kurama paused. "Who was your tour guide?"

"Some prep called Sakura," Mandi answered, calmly chewing on her ice cream cone. "Cheerleader, not too smart, dyed her hair blonde."

In addition to her tapping, Stephanie started bouncing her leg, making the whole table vibrate.

"I can see why you think I owe you a strip-tease," Kurama said wryly. Stephanie stilled and shot her head up, staring at the fox lustfully. "I'm not stripping," he said flatly. Stephanie pouted and returned to her finger-tapping and leg-bouncing. "Sakura's not well-liked, not even by the rest of my fan girls. She really shouldn't even be going to Meiou at all, but her parents are the head executives of some corporation that she refuses to name, and they paid her way in."

"Well," Mandi mumbled, "isn't that nice for her."

When Kimberly wasn't looking, Stephanie gleefully snatched her ice cream back.

0000000000

The first day of school found Stephanie and her friends tired and cranky. In deference to their new, completely not a jackass principal, Stephanie and Brianna wore their uniforms the way they were meant to be worn.

"Are you ready for your first day of school?" the fox asked lightly.

"No," Stephanie answered sourly. "I'm tired, and I still haven't gotten my striptease."

Despite themselves, the other four snorted with laughter.

"Yeah, you think I'm playin', but I'm bein' entirely serious," the girl grumbled. "Let's just go so we can get this stupid day over with so I can sleep." And with that, she stomped through the gate, the others following in her wake.

0000000000

Through sheer dumb luck, the girls were put in all the same morning classes. The only class before lunch that separated them was chemistry. While three of them had chosen to take Physics, Mandi and Stephanie had decided on AP Chemistry with Kurama.

However, they also shared the period with Sakura.

"I call Fox-Boy in lab!" Stephanie shouted gleefully before class began, hugging him from behind.

The other side of the room, which consisted mostly of Shuichi fans, glared menacingly at her. Stephanie stared coolly back at them.

"But Stephanie!" Mandi whined. The fan girls turned their heads away in disgust. "What about me?"

Stephanie was about to respond, when their teacher strode briskly into the room. "Sit, sit," he commanded breathlessly. The students obediently sat. "Okay, so since this is an AP class, I figure you already know standard procedures. However, the law requires me to test you before we start doing labs. You'll see on your syllabus which I'm about to give you that our test is next week." He drew a stack of papers from his briefcase and shuffled around the room, placing one on each desk. He continued with his speech as he went.

Near the end of the period, he assigned lab partners. He went quickly, most students getting partnered with who they wanted. After only a few minutes, there were only four students left: Kurama, Stephanie, Mandi, and Sakura.

Throughout the period, Stephanie and Mandi had been arguing via note about who was going to be partnered with who. Mandi was adamant that she and her friend should be together. That was how it had always been; why should it be any different because they were stuck in a different dimension?

The harried teacher plucked the note from Stephanie's hands as she scribbled. She shouted an inarticulate protest, but was hit lightly over the head with a folder. "Passing notes is prohibited here, believe it or not," he said wryly. "Let's see here… Mandi wants to be partnered with Stephanie, Stephanie wants to be partnered with… ah, Shuichi." Stephanie glowered resentfully at the man. "Let's see if I can resolve this little conflict. Stephanie, you're with Sakura, Mandi with Shuichi." He glanced briefly at his watch. "Class dismissed."

Mandi and Stephanie were the first to scurry out, followed closely by Kurama, and even more closely by Sakura.

0000000000

Seventeen and Eighteen were dropped just outside the barrier, from the portal in the warehouse. They stared distastefully at the fortress through the green haze.

"Why are we doing this, again?" the blonde asked dully.

"Because," Seventeen answered coolly, "this is our chance to take out Gero. Koenma can't control us. We'll do his espionage, but in the end, it's us who will benefit."

Eighteen shrugged. "Whatever."

They pressed a button hidden in the dirt, and a hole opened up before them with a hiss. They descended down the stairs into the darkness. When they were no longer visible, the hole silently closed up.


	12. Espionage The Lost Episode

**I know, it's been awhile. And it's short. Really short. This actually should have gone with the previous chapter, but for whatever reason it didn't get included. And it doesn't really fit in with the next chapter (which I haven't even started on), so it's all on its own. Poor thing. I blame writer's block, which is the fault of the weather. The lack of rain has dried up all my writing stuff. But whatever.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for myself and a cat. I don't even own my own characters. How very sad.

* * *

**

"You sure got what you wanted in lab didn't you, slut," Sakura snarled at Mandi. As soon as they got out of chemistry, they headed straight for lunch. They were currently waiting in the slow-moving line, Stephanie and Mandi close to Kurama for obvious reasons. Some people, like Sakura for instance, saw it as them moving in on already claimed territory. "Trying to stay close to your baby's daddy, right?" Sakura taunted. "I bet you're just scared he'll get bored with you and come to his senses and come running to me."

"You do realize that you just basically said that your precious Ku – Shuichi is easy, don't you?" Mandi retorted.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sakura demanded haughtily.

"That you called poor Shuichi a man whore!" Stephanie said, buttin gin before Mandi had a mood swing and mockingly patted Kurama's arm in a soothing manner. "Really Sakura, you should be ashamed."

Sakura snarled wordlessly at Stephanie and whirled around to get her food. Stephanie followed, still clutching Kurama's arm.

"So is the food here edible?" she asked the redhead as she grabbed a couple trays. She reached around the kitsune to hand one to Mandi, who took it gratefully and stepped around Kurama to get at the food.

"It's decent as far as cafeteria food goes," Kurama replied, slightly amused. Both girls were piling as much food as possible on their trays already.

Mandi plucked a fry from her plate, daintily dipped it into some mayonnaise, then popped it in her mouth, causing Stephanie to wrinkle her nose in disgust and Kurama to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. "It ain't bad," she shrugged.

"So disgusting," Stephanie muttered as she paid for her lunch. She waited Impatiently for her friends to hurry up, and then the three of them headed outside to eat at one of the picnic tables. Soon they were joined by the other three.

"Did you have fun in chemistry?" Datha asked as she, Kimberly, and Brianna sat.

"I got the crazy one as a lab partner," Stephanie answered with her mouth full. Bits of hamburger sprayed onto the table, and she sheepishly grabbed a napkin to clean it up.

"Aren't you and Mandi always lab partners?" Kimberly asked snidely.

"Not that crazy one," Stephanie answered quickly. She glanced at her friend, but Mandi didn't appear to take offense, so she relaxed. "Mandi's just hormonal. I'm talking about the overly possessive fan girl. Mandi's pissed, but I view it as an opportunity to dye the bitch's hands blue. Or at least spill acid down her shirt."

The others stared blankly at her. "No, she's not vindictive at _all_," Brianna finally said with a grin. Stephanie smirked back, and the conversation continued as normally as possible, considering the group.

0000000000

The Master was not pleased. The Androids had indeed returned at Gero's call, but had come empty-handed. This was not acceptable! The fool scientist wold pay for his creations' transgressions…

0000000000

The Androids were lounging in their quarters when Dr. Gero stumbled into the room, bloody and bruised and breathing as if he'd run a marathon. Seventeen and Eighteen gave him a cursory glance, but otherwise ignored the man.

"You!" he hissed. "This is all _your_ fault!" The twins raised their eyebrows at each other, then turned to stare dully at the mad scientist. "It would have been fine if you fools had only run away," he raged. "But you _returned without the Dragonballs! _Why?!? Why are you so determined to make my life miserable?!?"

Seventeen smirked, and when it became apparent that neither android deined to answer, Dr. Gero let out a frustrated scream and left the room to have his wounds healed.

Eighteen raised her eyes to look at Seventeen. "Why can't we just kill him now?" she complained.

"Patience is a virtue," Seventeen snapped. "Don't worry, Eighteen. The old man will die, but if we do it now we will have that hooded freak to deal with. We wait until he's Koenma's lackeys' problem."

Eighteen shrugged. "Whatever."


End file.
